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The Russian armed forces are to be increased to more than two million people from 2023. President Vladimir Putin ordered this by decree. Six months after invading Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his army to be expanded. From 2023, the total army strength should total more than two million people, according to a decree by Putin. An official reason was not given. The number of military alone is to be increased by 137,000 to around 1.15 million. This includes both contract soldiers and conscripts. The paper, signed by Putin, did not say whether the military plans to increase the number of conscripts or increase the number of volunteers, or both. The remaining members of the military are civilian personnel, such as administrative employees. Nuclear Dispute Israel Calls For Nuclear Talks With Iran To Be Halted Russia invaded neighboring Ukraine on February 24. According to the Russian government, everything is going "according to plan" in the war. However, intern...

No more tobacco trade, make oil imports more difficult: the government in Washington wants to tighten the punitive measures against North Korea. China and Russia are likely to veto. After North Korea tested a suspected ICBM, the United States called a UN Security Council vote on tougher sanctions against the communist country. The goal is to weaken the regime in Pyongyang to such an extent that it can no longer continue "its illegal programs for weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles." Further restrictions on the country's oil imports are under discussion. The draft resolution, which is also available to the dpa news agency, also provides for a complete stop to the North Korean tobacco trade; this source of income is to be dried up. Sanctions are also planned against the North Korean hacker group Lazarus, whose assets are to be frozen. Where Guns Count More Than Children's Lives North Korea had previously fired three missiles immediately after US President...

Rapidly rising prices and growing crime put the US President under pressure. With his household, he fights against ending up as a "lame duck" in the fall. Barely back from his trip to Europe, where he shocked America's allies by calling for Vladimir Putin to be ousted, US President Joe Biden turned his full attention to domestic politics. On Monday he presented his household budget for 2023. Biden's plan calls for $5.8 trillion in spending, just below last year's proposal.  Most of the money is earmarked and intended, for example, to finance state pension insurance. Biden only has $1.6 trillion in funds to fund his political agenda. Above all, he wants to increase spending on internal and external security and social spending. Although it is only Biden's second budget, it is probably the last chance for the president to get at least parts of his political agenda off the ground. As things stand at present, the Democrats are likely to lose the majority in both c...

The Ukrainian president demands security guarantees that do not involve the Alliance and opens to discuss "the complex issue of Donbas". Turkey announces that Istanbul will host new Russian-Ukrainian face-to-face contacts. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that Russia must withdraw its troops from the country before any document is signed on Ukraine's non-adherence to NATO and the security guarantees that, in return, Kiev demands from various countries such as Turkey and the UK. "We need an agreement with President (Vladimir) Putin. The guarantors will not sign anything if there are troops," he said in an interview with independent Russian media, including the Meduza portal (located in Latvia) and journalists from the banned Dozhd television network, from the business daily Kommersant and author Mikhail Zygar. Zelenskyj's Interview  Publishes In Russian Media The communications regulator, Roskomnadzor, had stated that these media should n...