The chief of the NATO military alliance has announced a plan to launch a new “virtual network” comprising national and commercial satellites as the war in Ukraine approaches one year.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, speaking to reporters on Monday ahead of the bloc's defense ministers' meeting in Brussels, said the move is designed to bolster the alliance's "intelligence and surveillance" as well as support its "missions and operations."
“This will improve our intelligence and surveillance. And support NATO missions and operations,” Stoltenberg said, adding that it would allow for “better navigation, communication, and early warning of missile launches.”
It comes after Moscow warned that Western commercial satellites being used in the Ukraine war could be "legitimate military targets".
In October last year, a senior Russian foreign ministry official was quoted as saying that commercial satellites from the United States and its allies could become legitimate targets for Russia if they were involved in the war in Ukraine.
"Quasi-civilian infrastructure may be a legitimate target for a retaliatory strike," Konstantin Vorontsov, deputy director of the Russian foreign ministry's department for non-proliferation and arms control, told the United Nations, calling it "provocative".
Stoltenberg said the new network would require increased military spending from those nations, adding that the discussions during the NATO defense ministers meeting will seek to “maintain and step up defense spending across the alliance."
The NATO chief also reaffirmed the alliance's support for Ukraine in the war against Russia "for as long as it takes."
Russia launched what it calls the "special military operation" in Ukraine in February 2022, with NATO's eastward expansion blamed for the war. Next week, the simmering war will complete one year.
Russia views the alliance’s efforts to make Ukraine a member and to deploy missiles close to its borders as a direct threat to Russian territory.
Stoltenberg also hinted at the expansion of NATO’s efforts in Eastern European countries, and bolstering its "practical support" for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia and Moldova, whom he described as “valued partners which face Russian threats.”
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2023/02/14/698199/US-led-NATO-launch-new-surveillance-network
China has suspended several 2025 export controls on strategic materials — including rare earths, superhard materials, and lithium batteries – for a year. Is this a concession to the US, or a move in a far more complex game?
"The first aim of China’s export controls was to consolidate its leverage in negotiations. The second was to establish a long-term framework for managing such controls," says Yana Leksyutina, deputy director at the Institute of China and Contemporary Asia, Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS).
Сhina could activate this mechanism at any moment, and now everyone knows it’s a lever it holds, she explains to Sputnik.
Balancing the Mineral Market
"The moratorium on export bans to the US essentially resets the rare earth market to where it was previously," Jeff J. Brown, author of 'The China Trilogy' and founder of Seek Truth From Facts Foundation, tells Sputnik.
In the meantime, there will be a global rush by the US and its NATO allies to acquire as many rare earth ...
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – The impact of the ongoing federal shutdown on the US economy is far worse than expected because it is lasting much longer than anticipated, White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said on Friday.
"The impact on the economy is far worse than we expected, because it's gone on for so long," Hassett told Fox Business. "I think we were thinking that we could have at least 3% [GDP] growth in the fourth quarter. I think now we're expecting something like half that because of the harm [caused] by the Democrats' policy.".......more here
https://sputnikglobe.com/20251107/federal-shutdown-hitting-us-economy-harder-than-expected--white-house-1123074810.html
Dozens of Palestinians, foreign activists, and journalists have been wounded as Israeli army-backed settlers carried out coordinated assaults across the occupied West Bank.
The attacks took place on Saturday, with the biggest number of the casualties, namely 17 people, being caused after settlers raided the outskirts of the Abu Falah village, northeast of the city of Ramallah, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported. Those injured included foreign activists.
According to the agency, settlers also torched a home, while Israeli forces attacked the area, targeting the residents, who had gathered near the scene. The latter incident, though, did not lead to any casualties.
In another wave of violence, settlers launched attacks on Palestinian farmers, journalists, and foreign activists participating in the annual olive harvest across several towns, leaving many with fractures and bruises.
The attacks were most severe in Beita, south of Nablus, where settlers descended from nearby outposts and ambushed ...
