UK

UK to send 1,000 troops for NATO Spearhead Force
The UK will contribute 1,000 personnel to a new multi-national rapid reaction force, Prime Minister David Cameron has said. He suggested the NATO "multinational spearhead force" could be deployed anywhere in two to five days. The British prime minister announced the force, to be based in Eastern Europe, will be launched in response to alleged Russian military involvement in Ukraine and instabil [...]
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UK says new Russian sanctions could be lifted if ceasefire holds
UK PM David Cameron said new sanctions against Russia could be lifted if the warring sides in Ukraine's conflict agree to honor a ceasefire, the details of which have now been finalized. Germany and France echoed the sentiment. Negotiators from Kiev, eastern Ukraine rebels, Russia and the OSCE are in Minsk, and a ceasefire between the warring sides has been signed as of Friday afternoon. The ce [...]
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At least 4,000 troops: NATO approves new E. Europe-based spearhead force
A new rapid reaction force, likely numbering at least 4,000 and ready to be deployed within 48 hours, will be created in Eastern Europe, after a decision by the 28 NATO member states following a conference in Wales. “This is a demonstration of our solidarity and resolve,” said NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen as the summit, largely dedicated to Ukraine, and attended by the count [...]
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UK doesn’t need Assad’s permission to launch airstrikes in Syria – Cameron
Britain could conduct airstrikes in Syrian regions captured by Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) militants, UK Prime Minister David Cameron has said. He added that he did not need permission from Syrian President Bashar Assad. Speaking at the start of the NATO summit in Wales on Thursday, Cameron said he did not recognize Assad as a legitimate leader, labeling him as “part of the problem.” [...]
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‘Welfare not warfare’: Protesters march on NATO Summit
Hundreds of protesters marched from the center of Newport in a show of opposition to the NATO Summit. There are reports of several marches taking place in other Welsh towns. An estimated 500 NATO opponents made a three-mile trek to the venue in a peaceful protest through Newport. The turnout appears to be well below the 2,500 predicted by organizers. [...]
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Ireland needed guns, but Scots only need a pen for independence
Support for Scottish independence has risen eight percentage points in a month, and momentum is firmly in its favor. Have the Scots now got the desire to become a nation once again? “A bheil Gàidhlig agaibh? Alba, táim in nGrá leát.” Only about 90,000 people will understand that question, or about two percent of the Scottish population, but the considerably larger (close to 2 million) n [...]
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“Yes victory is possible” Support for Scottish independence jumps to 47%
Support for Scottish independence is at its highest level ever according to a new poll, with nationalists rapidly closing the gap against unionists just two weeks before Scots vote whether to split from the UK. YouGov’s poll showed the unionist lead had shrunk from 22 percent a month ago to just 6 percent. Overall, support for independence leapt to 47 percent in August. The figures, published [...]
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NATO summit: Obama, Cameron urge allies to ramp up military spending
Barack Obama and David Cameron will urge NATO members to increase military spending at the alliance's summit in Wales, amid criticism that some countries are getting a "free ride", growing geopolitical tensions and Europe-wide austerity. The NATO summit, which kicks off later this week, will see Obama and Cameron urge European state leaders to protect their continent from amplifying threats by [...]
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“No to NATO”: Hundreds march against militarism, nuclear weapons at Wales summit
Some 400 people have joined a protest camp in Newport to protest against NATO. The march comes ahead of next week's military summit that will see 60 world leaders descend on the area and is already causing considerable disruption to locals. "Nuclear NATO - no, thanks!" or "Iraq, Ukraine - no more wars" read the numerous placards as about 400 protesters took in a march on Saturday against the up [...]
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UK seeking to bar Russia from using SWIFT banking network – report
The British government will press other European nations at a meeting in Brussels on Saturday to block Russia from using the SWIFT banking network, Bloomberg reported, in what could be a dramatic expansion of sanctions. The British government will press other European nations at a meeting in Brussels on Saturday to block Russia from using the SWIFT banking network, Bloomberg reported, in what c [...]
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NATO planning ‘rapid-deployment force’ of 10,000 troops to counter Russia
NATO is reportedly working towards the creation of an expeditionary force composed of 10,000 troops from seven different member states as a result of escalating tensions with Russia over the conflict in Ukraine. According to the Financial Times, the force’s creation will be spearheaded by Britain and involve contributions from Denmark, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Norway, and the Netherlands. [...]
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British MP and RT host George Galloway brutally attacked “over his Israel views”
George Galloway has been released from hospital a day after being attacked in London, allegedly for his anti-Israeli views. His spokesman said the UK MP appears to have some broken ribs and bruising to his head. Galloway, who is a MP for the Respect Party, was posing for pictures in the Notting Hill Gate area of west London, when he was attacked Friday evening. [...]
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Support for Scottish independence surges 4% as ‘Yes’ campaign gains momentum – poll
Support for Scottish independence is gathering steam three weeks before the referendum, bringing victory tantalizing closer for the "Yes" camp after its decisive debate win and David Cameron'™s attempt to make a business case for remaining in the UK. A poll for the Scottish Daily Mail newspaper released Friday showed that support for independence has surged by 4 percent, to 47 percent – ju [...]
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‘London-centricity is unsustainable’: 200 business leaders back Scottish independence
More than 200 business people have lent their support to the "Yes Scotland" campaign in an open letter published in The Herald Scotland newspaper, just one day after 130 slammed the idea of secession from the UK. The heads of 200 companies representing about 10 percent of Scotland’s workforce have backed Scottish independence over staying with the UK. Similar to the pro-unity bloc’s letter [...]
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‘Ring of steel’: NATO summit turns Welsh cities into massive open-air prisons
A “ring of steel” likened to a prison or the Berlin Wall has been erected around the NATO Summit venues in Newport and Cardiff city center ahead of the military alliance’s conference next week. Ten miles of nine-foot high security fencing has been set up to protect world leaders attending the September 4-5 conference amid fears issued by former foreign office minister Kim Howells of a pos [...]
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UK media approaching “mea culpa” moment on Russia
One of the more intriguing and appealing features of Catholicism is confession. This basically means that, in the eyes of Rome, any error or crime, no matter how profound, can be exorcised once a believer receives absolution from a priest. The media has something similar, except it’s known as ‘mea culpa’ culture. Essentially, it allows them to print and broadcast any amount of utter codsw [...]
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Kosovo and Ukraine: Compare and contrast
There have been at least two countries in Europe in recent history that undertook ‘anti-terrorist’ military operations against ‘separatists’, but got two very different reactions from the Western elite. The government of European country A launches what it calls an ‘anti-terrorist’ military operation against ‘separatists’ in one part of the country. We see pictures on Western te [...]
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UK ambassador “lobbied” US senators to obscure Britain’s complicity in CIA rendition program
Records published under Britain's Freedom of Information (FOI) Act have compounded concerns that the UK government lobbied US officials to keep Britain's role in CIA torture and rendition out of a soon-to-be published Senate report. Newly-released data reveals Britain’s ambassador to the US, Peter Westmacott, engaged in at least 21 separate meetings with members of the US Senate’s Select Co [...]
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Assange plans to leave embassy ‘soon’, no details given
Julian Assange plans to leave the Ecuadorian Embassy in the near future, he told a press conference at the embassy's London compound, where he's been holed up for two years. The WikiLeaks founder gave no further details. "I am leaving the embassy soon, but perhaps not for the reasons [reported]," he told journalists, refusing to clarify what his reasons are. [...]
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