Former MI6 boss on Trump, Putin and a 'new era' for international relations
As Donald Trump calls Ukraine’s President Zelensky a “dictator” and the US enters peace negotiations with Putin’s Russia, former MI6 boss Sir Alex Younger and former Financial Times Moscow Correspondent Catherine Belton discuss how the White House is paving the way for a “new era” of international relations. Presented by BBC Newsnight's Victoria Derbyshire.
To view this (14 minute) video with Subtitles in your preferred language
1. Click on wheel for Settings
2. Click on Subtitles/CC
3. Click on Auto-translate
4. Select language
Transcript
Follow along using the transcript
1. Scroll to end of first page
2. Click on Show transcript
View original and 2,076 comments on YouTube here
'Former MI6 boss on Trump, Putin and a 'new era' for international relations'
Sudan-Russia deal: Final agreement reached over Red Sea naval base, says Sudan. Moscow has for years sought to establish a base near Port Sudan. The port agreement, which was to last for 25 years, had been for Russia to establish a naval logistics hub, with warships including nuclear-powered vessels, and up to 300 personnel. Read full story.
From BBC News online
By Basillioh Rukanga
BBC News
Dated Thursday, 13 February 2025,08:22 GMT- excerpts:
'No obstacles' to Russian Red Sea base - Sudan
IMAGE SOURCE, EPA.
Image caption, Sudan's Foreign Minister Ali Youssef (L) met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow
Sudan has said a final deal has been agreed with Russia to establish a naval base on the war-torn country's Red Sea coast, saying there were "no obstacles" to it.
An agreement was discussed under former President Omar al-Bashir, but the military government that overthrew him had later said the matter was under review.
Sudan's Foreign Minister Ali Youssef said on Wednesday a deal had been signed and they were in "complete agreement" with Russia over the establishment of the port. He said what remained was only the ratification of the deal.
The US, China and France already have a naval presence in the seas off the Horn of Africa - a key strategic and trading route.
“Sudan and Russia have reached an understanding on the agreement regarding the Russian naval base," Youssif told a press briefing on Wednesday with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow.
"The matter is very simple… We have agreed on everything," he said.
No further details were provided and Lavrov did not comment on the matter.
The deal was discussed under Bashir's rule in 2019 and initially signed in November 2020, soon after the military takeover, but its fate had been unclear since war broke out in 2023.
Moscow has for years sought to establish a base near Port Sudan.
The port agreement, which was to last for 25 years, had been for Russia to establish a naval logistics hub, with warships including nuclear-powered vessels, and up to 300 personnel.
The Red Sea provides a strategic route that is vital to global commerce as well as a defence and geopolitical hotspot.
Russian interests in Port Sudan are said to have grown amid fears of losing its military assets in Syria. The new government in Syria last month terminated a treaty granting Russia a long-term lease for a port where Russia has had its only foreign naval base.
In recent months, Russian officials have reportedly visited Port Sudan - the de facto capital of Sudan during the war - and has sought to cultivate ties with both warring sides in the civil war.
Russia has also been expanding its influence in other African countries, including signing military co-operation agreements and displacing traditional Western allies.
This builds on the doubling of UK aid in November to address the humanitarian emergency in Sudan to £226.5 million. These UK funds are providing emergency food assistance to nearly 800,000 displaced people, of whom over 88% are women and children, as well as improving access to shelter, drinking water, emergency health care and education.
Meanwhile, US freezes nearly all foreign assistance worldwide, effective immediately, days after President Donald J Trump issued a sweeping executive order Monday to put a hold on such aid for 90 days. The new orders specifically exempted emergency food programs, such as those helping to feed millions in a widening famine in warring Sudan.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said:
“Sudanese people are facing violence on an unimaginable scale. This is the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world.
“Millions have already fled their homes – in the face of a struggle for power that has led to abhorrent atrocities against civilians and famine on an unconscionable scale.
“The international community must wake up and act urgently to avoid this horrific death toll escalating further in the coming months, driving instability and irregular migration into Europe and the UK. Under this government’s Plan for Change, we are addressing upstream drivers of migration to secure UK borders.
“The UK will not let Sudan be forgotten. To do so would be unforgivable.”
Meanwhile, the US has frozen nearly all foreign assistance worldwide, effective immediately, days after President Donald Trump issued a sweeping executive order Monday to put a hold on such aid for 90 days.
It is the policy of United States that no further United States foreign assistance shall be disbursed in a manner that is not fully aligned with the foreign policy of the President of the United States. Exempted are emergency food programs, such as those helping to feed millions in a widening famine in warring Sudan.
Associated Press report 25 January 2025 - "The US State Department ordered a sweeping freeze Friday on new funding for almost all US foreign assistance, making exceptions for emergency food programs and military aid to Israel and Egypt. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s order, delivered in a cable sent to US embassies worldwide, specifically exempted emergency food programs, such as those helping to feed millions in a widening famine in warring Sudan."
NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: Wars are started and prolonged for money and profit. The US is >$35 trillion in debt and makes and sells arms to reduce its debt. In my view, wherever there is war the US seems to be in the thick of it or in the background in the guise of fighting for freedom and democracy.
Here is an 11-minute video report by PBS News Sep 3, 2024 titled ‘Sudanese teachers and shopkeepers join the fight against rebels in nation’s civil war’. Note that at 4:35 it says: “The United States is one of the leading arms traders to the UAE”.
‘Amid brutal civil war, Sudan’s VP defends refusal to participate in U.S.-led peace talks’
This week, the United States attempted peace talks in Geneva, but the Sudanese armed forces refused to attend. With the support of the Pulitzer Center, special correspondent Leila Molana-Allen discussed the war with Sudanese Vice President Malik Agar.
‘Sudan: Constant flow of arms fuelling relentless civilian suffering in conflict – new investigation’
The conflict in Sudan is being fuelled by a constant flow of weapons into the country, Amnesty International said today in a new briefing. The briefing, New Weapons Fuelling the Sudan Conflict, documents how recently manufactured foreign weapons have been transferred into and around Sudan, often in flagrant breach of the existing Darfur arms embargo.
Amnesty International found that recently manufactured or recently transferred weapons and ammunition from countries including China, Russia, Serbia, Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Yemen are being imported in large quantities into Sudan, and then in some cases diverted into Darfur.
NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: In 2017, the US established an official, permanent military base in Israel: an air defense base in the heart of the Negev desert. US Air Force soldiers work at the base, located inside the Israeli Air Force’s Mashabim Air Base, west of the towns of Dimona and Yerucham. More here from The Times of Israel including a video of the opening ceremony. Note that since a US flag flies over the base, the Americans consider any attack on Israel to be an attack on the US.
After this news of Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel exchanging fire in the early hours of today, it seems the right time to post the following videos showing whistleblower, Gen. Wesley Clark, Retired 4-star US Army general, Supreme Allied Commander of NATO during the Kosovo War, saying in a 2007 interview that America’s objective is to take out 7 countries in 5 years: Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Iran. Other videos of the interview are online at YouTube. Here are two, incase one is deleted.
Interestingly, the events covered in this post are prophesied in the Holy Bible (King James Version). Anglican Christians believe these to be signs of the End Times and the Second Coming of Christ who will appear in Jerusalem. True Christians are not afraid of death. Life is camping, Heaven is for eternity. The Word of God assures us that all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ will have everlasting life (John 3:16; 6:47; 1 John 5:13)
VIDEO with Transcript. Gen. Wesley Clark. Retired 4-star US Army general. Supreme Allied Commander of NATO during the Kosovo War. Here general Wesley Clark describes how he was told on 20th Sept. 2001 that the administration had decided to attack Iraq followed by Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Iran: https://www.youtube.com/watch
____________________________
Report from BBC News online
By Tom Bennett, BBC News reporting from London
Hugo Bachega BBC News Middle East correspondent, reporting from Beirut
Dated Saturday, 03 August 2024. Updated 04 August. Full copy:
Countries urge nationals to leave Lebanon as Mid-East war fears grow
IMAGE SOURCE, EPA Image caption,
Hezbollah and Israel exchanged fire in the early hours of Sunday
Several countries have urged their nationals to leave Lebanon, as fears grow of a wider conflict in the Middle East.
Iran has vowed “severe” retaliation against Israel, which it blames for the death of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on Wednesday. Israel has not commented.
His assassination came hours after Israel killed Hezbollah senior commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut.
Western officials fear that Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militia and political movement based in Lebanon, could play a key role in any such retaliation, which in turn could spark a serious Israeli response.
Diplomatic efforts by the US and other Western countries continue to try to de-escalate tensions across the region.
A growing number of flights have been cancelled or suspended at the country’s only commercial airport in Beirut.
The US, the UK, Australia, Sweden, France, Italy, Canada, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Jordan are among the countries to have urged their citizens to leave Lebanon as soon as possible.
Fears of an escalation of hostilities that could engulf Lebanon are at their highest since Hezbollah started its attacks on Israel, a day after the deadly Hamas attacks on southern Israel on 7 October, in support for Palestinians in Gaza.
Most of the violence has been contained to border areas, with both sides indicating not being interested in a wider conflict.
Hezbollah, however, has vowed to respond to Shukr’s assassination, which happened in Dahiyeh, the group’s stronghold in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
On Sunday, Hezbollah launched dozens of rockets at the town of Beit Hillel in northern Israel at around 00:25 local time (21:25 GMT Saturday).
Footage posted on social media showed Israel's Iron Dome air defence system intercepting the rockets. There have been no reports of casualties.
Israel’s air force responded by striking targets in southern Lebanon.
In a separate development on Sunday morning, two people were killed in a stabbing attack in the Israeli city of Holon. The attacker was later “neutralised”, police said.
Also on Sunday, officials from the Hamas-run ministry of health in Gaza said an Israeli air strike had hit a tent inside a hospital, killing at least five people. The officials said 19 Palestinians had been killed on Sunday.
In a statement on Saturday, the US embassy in Beirut said those who chose to stay in Lebanon should “prepare contingency plans” and be prepared to “shelter in place for an extended period of time”.
The Pentagon has said it is deploying additional warships and fighter jets to the region to help defend Israel from possible attacks by Iran and its proxies, a strategy similar to the one adopted in April, when Iran launched more than 300 missiles and drones at Israel in retaliation to an attack on its diplomatic compound in Syria.
It blamed Israel for that strike.
Many fear Iran’s retaliation on this occasion could take a similar form.
The UK says it is sending extra military personnel, consular staff and border force officials to help with any evacuations.
It has urged UK citizens to leave Lebanon while commercial flights are running.
Two British military ships are already in the region and the Royal Air Force has put transport helicopters on standby.
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the regional situation “could deteriorate rapidly”.
In a phone call with EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell on Friday, Iran's Acting Foreign Minister Ali Baqeri Kani said Iran would "undoubtedly use its inherent and legitimate right" to "punish" Israel.
On Friday, an announcer on Iran's state TV warned "the world would witness extraordinary scenes".
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Israelis that "challenging days lie ahead... We have heard threats from all sides. We are prepared for any scenario".
Tensions between Israel and Iran initially escalated with the killing of 12 children and teenagers in a strike on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Israel accused Hezbollah and vowed “severe” retaliation, though Hezbollah denied it was involved.
Days later, Shukr, who was a close adviser to the Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, was killed in a targeted Israeli air strike in Beirut. Four others, including two children, were also killed.
Hours after that, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Iran, Hamas's main backer. He was visiting to attend the inauguration of Iran's new president, Masoud Pezeshkian.
Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has said Israel will suffer a “harsh punishment” for the killing.
Haniyeh's assassination dealt a blow to the negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza, the main hope to defuse tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border.
The war began in October when Hamas carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 others back to Gaza as hostages.
The attack triggered a massive Israeli military response, which has killed at least 39,480 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.
Media caption [Video] Watch: Israel intercepts rockets fired from Lebanon
.jpeg)
