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As we get into the second week of the Ukraine - Russia conflict, concerns are rising that the aggressors will deploy harmful thermobaric weapons, or so called ''vacuum bombs''. If these are used, the human cost and environmental damage will be insurmountable. Fears are that the Kremlin is getting increasingly frustrated with the slow pace of the conflict and will escalate offences to make Ukraine fall. In this post we will have a look at these awful explosives, which have been dubbed the ''poor man's nuclear weapon''. WHAT ARE THERMOBARIC WEAPONS? Also known as aerosol bombs or fuel air explosives, thermobaric weapons are two-staged munitions designed to use the oxygen in the air to explode. Fuel air explosives are the worst type of thermobaric weapons. A Russia thermobaric MRLS system Unlike typical explosives, that have a mixture of fuel and oxidizing agent that would cause them to ignite, these vacuum bombs are just filled with fuel and r...

Private military companies, or PMCs, have been around for hundreds of years. Colloquially known as mercenaries, these are soldiers that fight for money. They don't have allegiance to any political party, religion or state. Their only allegiance is to cold, hard cash. As such, using these services makes it easy and clear. Money in exchange for a range of services like protection and security, trainings or support for official armed forces. But, on the other hand, this also makes mercenaries dangerous. They work without parameters, and have nobody to answer to. As they are private contractors, they only have themselves to listen to. So, how ethical is it to use these PMCs? What are the benefits? And, lastly, what are the pitfalls a country might find with these operators? WHAT IS A PRIVATE MILITARY COMPANY? Essentially, a PMC, as they are better known, are security companies that provide the same services as traditional armed forces, governmental security personnel, or poli...

The world is full of crises right now, from the situation in Afghanistan, to the oppression of North Koreans, the Chinese power struggle for Taiwan and beyond, and now the latest European plight. Belarus is exploiting desperate people, in despairing situations, to get leverage against the EU to lift sanctions that were put on them because of the interference with the Ryanair flight on May 23, 2021, that was flying between Athens and Vilnius.  Polish troops at the borders confronting illegal crossers WHAT IS HAPPENING IN BELARUS RIGHT NOW WITH THE MIGRANTS? In a nutshell, Belarus is flying migrants from various countries, for example from Africa and the Middle East, with the promise that they can move on forward to an EU country, and eventually to Germany. What these migrants don't know, or don't realise, is that they are being used as pawns by the Belarusian dictator, Alexander Lukashenko, in his bid to create chaos and destabilise the region so that the European Unio...

After 20 years of almost normal freedom, the country of Afghanistan is once more thrown in the dark ages in regards to women's rights. The Taliban has formed a new government, formally announcing the start of their reign with the hoisting of their flag over the Afghan presidential palace on September 11, 2021. So, on the same day that the United States of America was mourning the 20th anniversary of the collapse of the World Trade Centre attacks where 2,977 people died.  Taliban flag flying on top of the Afghanistan presidential palace JUST ANNOUNCED: Women can still study at university, but.... Today, it came out in all the newspapers that the Taliban have announced that women can still attend university. The only problem is that they specified a set of almost unachievable rules that will mean that women will not be able to go to university if the resources or space does not meet the demands.  Women can still attend university, even post-graduate studies if: classes are gende...

Last month was a historic and tragic time in the long, battle weary past of Afghanistan. The ones suffering the most will be the Afghani women, who have experienced periods of freedom, education and almost equal status in society. Under Taliban rule, their lives will take a 180 degrees into the past with bans on music, dancing, going to school, forced marriage and sexual slavery. It is so bad that some women would rather die than to be wed to a Taliban fighter! In this post, we will explore what life will be like for women under the new Taliban regime, and why they would rather commit suicide than to live that sad, small and secluded life devoid of freedoms and education.  Female Afghani soldiers WOMEN'S RIGHTS TAKEN AWAY On September 27, 1996 the Taliban seized control of Kabul, and previously Herat in 1994. They overtook the then current Afghanistan government and set up their own totalitarian dictatorship that ruled with an iron fist. They set up a gender apartheid that...