Headlines:

• Inequality Crisis
• US increasing Troops against Russia
• Handpicked Rebels to attend Syria Talks

Inequality Crisis

The latest report from Oxfam has revealed that 8 people in the world own the same amount as half of the world (3.6 billion – poorest half of human) put together (enough to fit in a limousine). Not too long ago the same organisation revealed that it was actually 62 people who held this amount wealth but in response to the controversy around their calculations and a lack of new data, Oxfam have used more accurate methods to prove a situation even worse than feared. These statistics indicate a phenomenon of growing capital inequality that are far beyond natural, but systemic. It is a crime to see the elite thriving in great wealth, whilst the poor suffer in none. Oxfam have resorted to calling it an ‘economy for the 99 percent’ in which ‘1 in 10 people survive on less than $2 a day. Every year when the world’s best and brightest descend on Davos to attend the World Economic Forum’s annual summit, Oxfam points to the huge disparity in wealth between the attendees and the rest of us – yet little has been done in the area.

US increasing Troops against Russia

Tensions are already on the rise between the US and Russia over massive US deployments in Germany for a training exercise marching east toward Russia. A force of US Marines are now heading to Trondheim, Norway for another deployment along the Russian border. Russia is none too happy, again, both annoyed at the US for deployment yet more troops along their border, and at Norway, who promised not to host any foreign troops on the Russian border when they became part of NATO. Norway insists this is just a temporary deployment and doesn’t count. How temporary? Officials say the US Marines will be in the area for at least a year, focusing on “cold weather” exercises which appear to center on “learning how to cope with skis.” They added the skis will have “nothing to do with Russia or the current situation.” Russia will doubtless note that there are plenty of places to ski that aren’t a stone’s throw from the NATO/Russia border, and this will just be the latest in a long list of small irritants adding to the tension between the US and Russia.

Handpicked Rebels to attend Syria talks

Despite several weeks of complaining about the ongoing ceasefire, the Syrian rebels’ High Negotiations Committee (HNC), a Saudi-backed faction, will be attending and participating in next Monday’s peace talks in the city as Astana, Kazakhstan. Rebels had been meeting in Ankara, Turkey to decide whether or not to participate in the talks, and ultimately agreed to attend, with Mohammad Alloush, a leader of Jaish al-Islam who had previously served as a senior HNC negotiator, will be leading the delegation. The talks are being put together by Turkey and Russia as part of the ceasefire’s progression. The Syrian government had already agreed to attend, with President Bashar al-Assad saying everything about the future of Syria was up for negotiation, and that he was open to holding a constitutional referendum to revise the law as part of settling the war. These are all handpicked individuals, and does not include those were battled in Aleppo. But all the previous negotiations have collapsed and it remains to be seen if this will just be another