—————————————————————————-

—————————————————————————-

Tony Blair could face Iraq contempt vote in Commons

July 10, 2016

A group of senior MPs is calling for a vote to decide whether Tony Blair is guilty of contempt of Parliament over his decision to invade Iraq in 2003. Conservative David Davis said he will present the motion on Thursday accusing the former PM of misleading Parliament. Meanwhile, John Prescott, the then deputy prime minister, said he now believed the invasion was “illegal”. Mr Blair has apologised for mistakes he made but has said he stands by his decision and “there were no lies”. In his long-awaited report on the Iraq invasion, Sir John Chilcot said the legal basis for the war was reached in a way that was “far from satisfactory”, but he did not explicitly say it was illegal. But Mr Davis, a former shadow home secretary, told BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show: “I’m going to put down a contempt motion, a motion which says that Tony Blair has held the House in contempt.

“It’s a bit like contempt of court. Essentially by deceit.”

Continue reading →

—————————————————————————-

—————————————————————————-

Philando Castile Shooting in Minnesota Leads Governor to Seek U.S. Investigation

July 7, 2016

Minnesota’s governor called on Thursday for a federal investigation into the shooting of a black man by a police officer during a traffic stop near St. Paul, after millions of people watched the bloody, dying man in a grisly video recorded by his girlfriend and streamed live moments after the shooting. The deadly encounter Wednesday night in the city of Falcon Heights was at least the second shooting this week of a black man by police officers, after the killing of a man in Baton Rouge during an attempted arrest, and parts of both encounters were recorded on video. The graphic video from Minnesota showed Philando Castile, 32, who had been shot several times, slumping against the woman who was recording the scene. As she did so, her 4-year-old daughter sat in the back seat and an officer stood just outside the driver’s side window, still aiming his gun at the mortally wounded man at point-blank range. The video is all the more shocking for the calm, clear narration of the woman, Lavish Reynolds, who states that Mr. Castile had done nothing wrong, and the fact that she streamed it live on Facebook. Ms. Reynolds gave her account of what had happened, stating again and again that Mr. Castile had just been reaching for his driver’s license and registration — as the officer had requested — when the officer opened fire.

“Please, officer, don’t tell me that you just did this to him,” she said. “You shot four bullets into him, sir. He was just getting his license and registration, sir.”

Continue reading →

—————————————————————————

—————————————————————————

Baton Rouge Man’s Son Breaks Down as Mom Addresses Deadly Cop Shooting

July 6, 2016

The 15-year-old son of Alton Sterling, a black man who was shot and killed by white police officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, wept uncontrollably and cried “Daddy!” this morning as his mother spoke to reporters about the deadly confrontation, which was captured on video.

“He [her son Cameron Sterling] had to watch this, as this was put all over the outlets,” Quinyetta McMillon said. “As a mother, I have now been forced to raise a son who is going to remember what happened to his father.”

Alton Sterling, 37, was killed early Tuesday in a shooting that was captured on cellphone video. In the video, two officers appear to struggle with Sterling and slam him to the ground. One man seems to yell “gun.” Then at least two shots are fired while the officers are close to Sterling. Baton Rouge police said the incident began when uniformed officers responded to a disturbance call from someone who said a black man who was selling CDs threatened him with a gun. Officers approached Sterling in the parking lot of the convenience store, and “an altercation between Sterling and the officers ensued,” police said. He was shot during the altercation and died at the scene, police said. The coroner for East Baton Rouge Parish said Sterling died from multiple gunshot wounds to his chest and back. Officers Blane Salamoni, a four-year veteran, and Howie Lake II, a three-year veteran, were placed on leave in connection with Sterling’s death, according to a Baton Rouge police news release. Both officers work in the Uniform Patrol Division.

Continue reading →

UPDATE – CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL CHILCOT REPORT – http://www.iraqinquiry.org.uk/the-report/

—————————————————————————————————-

—————————————————————————————————-

Chilcot report: Tony Blair’s Iraq War case not justified

July 6, 2016

Tony Blair overstated the threat posed by Saddam Hussein, sent ill-prepared troops into battle and had “wholly inadequate” plans for the aftermath, the UK’s Iraq War inquiry has said. Chairman Sir John Chilcot said the 2003 invasion was not the “last resort” action presented to MPs and the public. There was no “imminent threat” from Saddam – and the intelligence case was “not justified”, he said. Mr Blair has apologised but insisted that lives had not be lost “in vain”. Amid calls for Mr Blair and others to take responsibility, the ex-Labour prime minister said he acknowledged the intelligence had “turned out to be wrong” and the invasion had destabilised Iraq but said he still believed the country was “better off” without Saddam Hussein. While accepting the grief and sorrow of those who had lost loved ones and accepting they could not “forgive or forget him”, he said British service personnel had taken part “in the defining global security struggle of the 21st Century”. The report, which has taken seven years, is on the Iraq Inquiry website.

Continue reading →

————————————————————————-

————————————————————————-

EU referendum: UK votes to leave in historic referendum

June 24th 2016

The UK has voted by 52% to 48% to leave the European Union after 43 years in an historic referendum. London and Scotland voted strongly to stay in the EU but the remain vote has been undermined by poor results in the north of England. UKIP leader Nigel Farage hailed the result as the UK’s “independence day”. The pound fell to its lowest level against the dollar since 1985 as the markets reacted to the results. The UK has voted by 52% to 48% to leave the European Union after 43 years in an historic referendum. London and Scotland voted strongly to stay in the EU but the remain vote has been undermined by poor results in the north of England. UKIP leader Nigel Farage hailed the result as the UK’s “independence day”. The pound fell to its lowest level against the dollar since 1985 as the markets reacted to the results.

UKIP leader Nigel Farage – who has campaigned for the past 20 years for Britain to leave the EU – told supporters “this will be a victory for ordinary people, for decent people”. Mr Farage – who predicted a Remain win at the start of the night after polls suggested that would happen – said Thursday 23 June would “go down in history as our independence day”. He called on Prime Minister David Cameron, who called the referendum but campaigned passionately for a Remain vote, to quit “immediately”. A Labour source said:

“If we vote to leave, Cameron should seriously consider his position.”

Continue reading →

September 2, 2015

Ukraine’s national security council on Wednesday approved a new military doctrine that declares Russia to be a military opponent and calls for the country to pursue NATO membership. There was no immediate official reaction from Russia, which hotly denies claims that it has sent troops and equipment to separatist rebels in Ukraine’s east and which opposes Ukraine joining NATO.

—————————————————————————-

CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING

—————————————————————————-

Ukraine Claims Russian Officer Detained

July 26, 2015

Ukraine’s border guards service says it has detained a Russian officer who was driving a truck packed with weapons including rocket-propelled grenades. There was no immediate comment from the Russian military, but the self-styled defense ministry of the rebel forces in Donetsk said Sunday that the claim “provokes irony.” Ukraine and Western countries contend Russia is providing troops and weaponry to eastern Ukraine’s rebels, who have been fighting Ukrainian forces since April 2014 in a war that has killed at least 6,400 people. Russia consistently denies the allegation. The border guard service said the truck and its two occupants were intercepted late Saturday at a checkpoint about 30 kilometers (19 miles) south of Donetsk, the main rebel-held city. It said one of the men acknowledged he was a Russian major.

———————————————————————————–

CLICK HERE FOR MORE NEWS ON UKRAINE

———————————————————————————–

Ukraine says six soldiers killed by rebels and 14 wounded in last 24 hours

June 13, 2015

The Ukrainian military says six of its soldiers have been killed and 14 wounded in the past 24 hours in the separatist east of the country despite the current ceasefire. The situation is particularly tense around the airport near the city of Donetsk, which is controlled by the rebels, the military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said. “The enemy threw tanks, armoured personnel carriers and heavy artillery into battle. We emphasise that rebels are also firing at residential areas,” he said. The casualties were the result of landmine explosions and shelling by the pro-Russia separatists, he added.

———————————————————————————

Click Here for more news on Ukraine

———————————————————————————

Dear Reader,

First I would like to apologize for being unable to keep this site as up-to-date as I wanted. I had previously promised to update the site at least once a week but due to work commitments I have been unable to deliver on that promise. I will endeavour to update this site once a month.

Furthermore, I am currently one person and the workload involved to maintain this site on a weekly basis is too much. I hope to rectify this situation shortly but in the meantime I will aim to update the site once a month and possibly more if time permits it.

Thank you for your patience and understanding and a big thank you to those who continue to visit my site despite the lack of updates over the months.

James Alec Newman
Owner
4TheRecord

The following archives have been updated as of April 30, 2015

Ukraine

Israel

Egypt

Britain should consider arming Ukraine – former Chief of Defence Staff

February 23, 2015

Prime Minister David Cameron should contemplate sending arms to Ukraine as a show of NATO strength against Russia and keep his promise to restore defense-spending levels, a former Chief of Defence Staff has warned. Air Chief Marshal Lord Stirrup echoed sentiments of other senior politicians and officials, who claim if defense spending is cut the West will look increasingly weak. After Russian bombers were detected over international waters near Britain’s south coast last week, Stirrup said Russia was “testing” Britain and its NATO allies. “NATO over the years, in the eyes of Putin at least, has become weak. Putin views the West as weak all round and that is a very, very dangerous position for us to be in,” he told Sky News’s Murnaghan program.

“My concern is that NATO is not spending enough resource on defense. If NATO is weak or is perceived to be weak by Putin then the risk of miscalculation is much greater and our security is much lowered as a result.” He added that the “swingeing cuts” to defense spending had left the armed forces “right on the limit.” “The 2010 defense review was predicated on defense expenditure increasing in real terms every year after 2015. The prime minister acknowledged that when he announced the outcome of the review in the House of Commons,” he said. “We now have to make sure that those undertakings are kept. It was important in 2010. It is much more important now.” Stirrup claimed the flights by Russian planes off the coast of Cornwall were intended to scout UK defenses, calling their behavior “very dangerous.”

—————————————————————————————————-

CLICK HERE FOR MORE NEWS ON UKRAINE

—————————————————————————————————-