ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

FILE PHOTO / Sputnik / © Dmitriy Vinogradov As a military helicopter was downed in Syria by Islamic State, resulting in the deaths of two Russian pilots, RT sits down with political analyst Catherine Shakdam, who says that while soldiers die fighting terror, some governments continue pushing for their political agendas. Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) militants shot down a military helicopter in Syria on July 8, killing two Russian military instructor pilots. This took place near Palmyra where another Russian lieutenant was killed in action earlier this year. The helicopter had been attacking terrorists at Damascus’ request when it was taken down, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. RT: Does this attack on the helicopter mean ISIS has weapons capable of shooting down an aircraft. Is this a new development? Catherine Shakdam: Definitely, and I think it is quite worrying. It is harks back to stories we’ve heard, allegations that were made just a

An anti-submarine rocket blasts off a rocket launcher from the Bulgarian navy frigate "Drazki" during the BREEZE 2014 military drill in the Black Sea © Velko Angelov / AFP As NATO agreed on plans to beef up its naval, land and aerial presence in the Black Sea region at a summit in Poland, Bulgaria once again called for the diffusion of tensions with Russia. As the NATO summit was underway in Warsaw, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borissov said that increased NATO activity in the Black Sea, which had been one of the measures proposed in the Polish capital, would lead to a counter reaction from Russia. “The Black Sea should be declared a demilitarized zone,” Borissov said. NATO already increased its regional activities following a Crimean vote to join Russia in March 2014. Western nations denounced the move as a land grab by Russia, and NATO insists that the region must remain under Ukrainian sovereignty. Moscow sees it as a legitimate exercise of the right for self-determinat

JUBA (10 Jul.) Fighting resumed again this morning, between the Sudan People’s Liberation Army in the Government (SPLA_IG) lead by President Kiir and Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA_IO), in Juba hai Jebel, where First Vice President, Riek Machar Takes residence. Multiple sources told Radio Tamazuj that, the government forces is the one leading the attack against the opposition forces' base in Jebel area, since early morning, as a heavy gunfire still going on up to the moment this story is written. The fighting this morning, come after a statement made by SPLA chief of staff Gen. Paul Malong last night, broadcasted in South Sudan Radio, claiming that there is an armed group plans to target people in Juba, asking the citizen to stay home. The statement read by Breg. Lol Rwai, spokesperson of SPLA.

146 people are confirmed killed in the clashes of Friday afternoon in South Sudan's capital Juba. A medical source confirmed that 109 dead bodies have been brought to Juba Teaching Hospital since the fighting. Separately, an SPLA-IO military source confirmed 37 of their side were killed, but none of them were taken to Juba Teaching Hospital. The source said these 37 were all killed in the clashes of the presidential palace known as J1. Juba has been calm Saturday 9 July, which is South Sudan's anniversary of independence. Last night gunfire erupted outside J1 as president Salva Kiir, first vice president Riek Machar, and vice president Wani Igga were meeting inside. The shooting then spread to nearly all neighborhoods of the city, including outside the UN base near Jebel where some 28,000 displaced people were sheltering It remains unclear exactly who was fighting each other in each place or the cause of the fighting. Update 15:43 9/7/2016: Witnesses report that the city is sti

By Tulsi Gabbard There is much at stake as we look toward the next 5 months, and beyond. We must be engaged. Our voices must be heard on the many important issues that we are tackling — such as environmental protection, health care, education, criminal justice reform, social security, jobs, veterans, campaign finance reform, and more. There is one issue that impacts all the rest: If we continue to spend trillions of dollars on costly interventionist regime change wars, overthrowing dictators we don’t like, we will not be able to afford to make any real progress on all the other issues that are so important to all of us As progressives, we care about the well-being of others. We are soft-hearted, and have aloha, respect, compassion for others and we don’t like to see anyone suffering. As a result, sometimes it’s easy to believe that maybe we should support a regime change war if we believe that war will relieve human suffering. Proponents of the interventionist wars in Libya and Iraq a

FORMER NATO COMMANDER Philip Breedlove defended himself on Saturday after The Intercept reported on leaked emails that showed him plotting to push President Obama to escalate tensions with Russia. “I think what you see is a commander doing what commanders ought to do,” Breedlove told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour . Amanpour asked about emails—originally published by “hacktivist” website dcleaks.com —showing Breedlove seeking help from former Secretary of State Colin Powell on ways to get Obama to be more aggressive in defending the Ukraine against Russian invasion. “I think POTUS sees us as a threat that must be minimized,” he wrote in a 2014 email, “ie do not get me into a war????” Breedlove deflected Amanpour’s questions at first, slamming the source of the leaks, which has not been publicly identified. “Let’s talk about the frustration right up front — the frustration that a nation-state would hack into a private individual’s emails and then use those to put out there for political or

Moscow has announced it would lift all restrictions on Turkey imposed in the aftermath of the shooting of a Russian jet that violated Turkish airspace last November. A decree signed by Vladimir Putin orders the Russian Cabinet to hold economic talks with Turkey and revise other restrictions accordingly. In an interview with the French daily Le Monde on 04 July, Turkish foreign minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said that “Russia told us that they are going to lift all restrictions. We saw the first results in tourism. Russians have started to come back; they can come here freely without a visa,” Russia had banned the sales of package tours and halted charter flights to Turkey, dealing a heavy blow to the country’s vital tourism industry. Moscow also banned most food imports from Turkey and introduced other restrictions. Russia and Turkey restored ties after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Vladimir Putinspoke over the phone and Erdogan sent an apology letter for the downing of the

'I Don't Know How to Get Through to You People' Video 'How do you not understand that the world is being pulled in an irreversible direction?' Vladimir Putin has finally taken the kid gloves off. The Russian president was meeting with foreign journalists at the conclusion of the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum on June 17th, when he left no one in any doubt that the world is headed down a course which could lead to nuclear war. Putin railed against the journalists for their "tall tales" in blindly repeating lies and misinformation provided to them by the United States on its anti-ballistic missile systems being constructed in Eastern Europe. He pointed out that since the Iran nuclear deal, the claim the system is to protect against Iranian missiles has been exposed as a lie. The journalists were informed that within a few years, Russia predicted the US would be able to extend the range of the system to 1000 km. At that point, Russia'