Category Archives: Ww3

Vladimir Putin has sent a fleet of bombers to a military base housing a large supply of nuclear weapons, sparking fears of World War 3. The Russian President has upped the stakes in his war in Ukraine, after illegally annexing four new provinces. During a carefully choreographed ceremony in Moscow, Putin announced on Friday that the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia would now be formally considered part of Russia.

He emphasised that the Kremlin would "use all means" at its disposal to protect the newly incorporated territories.

Analysts interpreted the phrase as yet another threat by Putin to deploy his nuclear arsenal, if the West continues to support Kyiv's army.

Newly released satellite images appear to show that the Russian President may be prepared to make good on his threats.

Israeli intelligence firm ImageSat International (ISI) said they had detected an "irregular presence" of Russian TU-160 and TU-95 strategic bombers at the Olenya Airbase near Finland.

Satellite photos taken by the company revealed the presence of four TU-160s at the base on August 21 and three TU-95s on September 25th.

The military base is located on the Kola Peninsula near Murmansk and houses a number of tactical and strategic nuclear weapons, as well as Russia's Northern Fleet.

Around 5,000 Russian soldiers are believed to be stationed in the city.

Serhii Cherevatyi, a spokesperson for Ukraines eastern forces, told Reuters: "Lyman is important because it is the next step towards the liberation of the Ukrainian Donbas.

"It is an opportunity to go further to Kreminna and Sievierodonetsk, and it is psychologically very important."

Images on social media depicted Ukrainian soldiers raising a Ukrainian flag on the outskirts of the city.

Luhansks governor, Serhiy Haidai, said on his Telegram channel: "The occupiers trapped in Lyman asked the Russian command to allow them to leave the city, but were refused."

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'Irregular presence': Putin sends bombers to nuclear weapons base as fears of WW3 rise - Express

It is possible that Russia could launch nuclear missiles at London, a former adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed.

On whether nuclear missiles could come to London, Russian political scientist Sergei Markov claimed on BBC Radio 4s Today programme yes, it is possible.

He said the situation could be created if Great Britain continue to be aggressor against Russia, if Prime Minister of Great Britain Liz Truss still has plans to destroy Russia.

He added: People in London should understand that this threat comes from Liz Truss, who is the aggressor. Stop the war against Russia on the Ukrainian territory.

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In light of that, weve collected a list of ten countries you should probably high tail it to if a third world war was to break out.

Weve based them on the Global Peace Index 2017, and a video which you can see below, that resurfaced online about the best countries to be in a WW3 situation.

Here's the top ten counties:

Ireland practises military neutrality, and has been internationally neutral since the 1930s. If WW3 does break, it will probably keep that neutrality.

Switzerland has the oldest history of military neutrality, established during the Treaty of Paris in 1815. They have not participated in a foreign war since then. Its mountains are also fortified against foreign invasion, making it an ideal place to stow away in the event of a world war.

When it comes to self-sustainability, Slovenias developing thermal, solar and hydroelectric power sources mean that if there is an international conflict, they dont need to rely on another country for energy. Coupled with the fact that they largely managed to stay out of both WW1 and WW2, we can only assume theyll continue this isolationist behaviour and steer clear of global conflicts.

An island in the south pacific ocean, Fiji is geographically in an isolated, and therefore fairly safe place. It isnt landlocked, and the government has traditionally kept out of global conflicts.

Denmark is an outlier in this list: though it may get dragged in to a war via their status in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (on the side of Europe), it has a trump card: Greenland. The region is non-politically unaligned and fairly remote.

Austria ranks 4th out of 163 countries on the Global Peace Index 2017. If that isn't enough to entice you, note that in the areas of conflict, militarisation and society and security, it scored below 1.5 out of five.

Coming in at third in the Global Peace Index, Portugal has become, according to Politico, an oasis of stability.

Far-right populism, which is sweeping across Europe, remains largely absent in the country and they have kept out of most conflicts since the WW2, making them stable internally and externally.

One of the best things going for this country is its commitment to self-sustenance: it gets over half of its electricity from hydroelectric power, and has fertile land, making crop production possible in the event that theyre cut off from the rest of the world.

As well as its remote location, New Zealand is a solid choice for a home in the event of a world war.

Canada is the 8th most peaceful country in the world according to the Global Peace Index 2017. It scored a 1.1 out of five for domestic and international conflict, making it one of the least involved countries when it comes to war.

Iceland scored a one on the Global Peace Index, making it the most peaceful country in the world.

In addition, the country is geographically far away from powers involved in global conflict (such as America, North Korea, Russia and Iran), making it the best hiding place.

Additional reporting from PA.

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Here's where you should live if World War III happens - msnNOW

CHINA is set to pour thousands of troops into Russia to stage huge war games as tensions with other countries hit boiling point.

It comes amid fears Russia and China's leaders Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping are plotting for World War 3 to break out with the West.

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Both countries have made repeated chilling threats to blast the UK and US as tensions simmer over Ukraine and Taiwan.

Just this month, China extended its largest-ever exercises around Taiwanbeyond the four days originally scheduled in retaliation over Nancy Pelosi's visit - including rehearsing sinking US submarines.

The country hadalso bragged about its ability to sink US aircraft carriers using hypersonic missiles.

Meanwhile, Russia has issued a string of threats to the West during its invasion of Ukraine.

One of Putin's cronies previously boasted Moscow's Satan-2 nuke can demolish "half of the US coast".

In another warning, Russian state TV said Britain could be bombed "back to the stone age" in ten minutes usingPutin's "unstoppable"7,000mph hypersonic nuke missiles.

But China's ministry yesterday insisted Beijing's participation in the latest joint exercises was "unrelated to the current international and regional situation".

Last month, Moscow announced plans to hold exercises from August 30 to September 5, even as it wages a costly war in Ukraine.

China's ministry said: "The aim is to deepen practical and friendly cooperation with the armies of participating countries, enhance the level of strategic collaboration among the participating parties, and strengthen the ability to respond to various security threats."

Under Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Putin, Beijing and Moscow have grown increasingly close.

A year ago, Russia and China held joint military exercises in north-central China involving more than 10,000 troops.

In October, Russia and China held joint naval drills in the Sea of Japan.

Days later, Russian and Chinese warships held their first joint patrols in the western Pacific.

Shortly before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Beijing and Moscow announced a "no limits" partnership.

It comes as Putin also cozies up to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Putin has written to the tyrant to form a pact to unite the pariah nations against the "hostile" West.

The concerning kinship has stoked fear among security agencies who fear their alliance could result in disastrous consequences.

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China sending thousands of troops to RUSSIA for massive war games amid fears Putin & Xi are plotting WW3... - The US Sun

Russia and China will be more willing to push the boundaries of AI weaponry, a drone warfare expert claimed in a chilling warning.

Professor Peter Lee, a military drone and automation expert at the University of Portsmouth, has warned that although today's AI weaponry is still a way off the sci-fi films, when it does arrive some countries will likely be prepared to let them run riot more than others.

He says the big question is: "How much permission will you give it to think for itself?"

READ MORE: Al-Qaeda leader obliterated by 'knife-shooting missile' that can target a single victim

Professor Lee said: For example, you cant give a drone full autonomy, I mean absolute human autonomy, because it might decide to change sides.

If something is fully autonomous in theory that is what they can do.

Increasingly autonomous weapons will bring some benefit, but the UKs current position is it will not develop fully autonomous drones.

Autonomous weapons as they are being conceived at the moment are very far short of the science fiction that we see in iRobot and Terminator and similar films.

The expert added that while some aspects of autonomous weaponry are developing faster than others, at some point a difficult decision will need to be made about how much freedom countries give it.

He said: The thing that will be politically controversial, at least in the UK and the West, is what level of autonomy do you give the weapons systems to select its own targets without a human authorising.

At the moment that's not been decided and is still being discussed."

In theory, the more AI makes its own calls the more scope there is for things to go badly wrong, the expert believes.

Professor Lee continued: At some point in the next 10 to 30 years, there will be a divergence between those countries that are willing to allow machines to make more decisions and machines that will be more constrained.

The UK for example would be on the more constrained side because of its international legal commitments, I'm confident of that.

Russia, I am less confident of. China, Im less confident. So those are some of the big challenges."

Discussing why Russia and China might be more prepared to give autonomous weapons more freedom he said: They appear not to be constrained in what they are willing to do.

"Look at Russia, it has bombed a hundred hospitals and military hospitals and medical facilities [in] Ukraine deliberately. You don't hit that many by accident.

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You have to say that is a country that is not very concerned about the well-being of civilians in a war zone.

Therefore when you translate that approach to the use of autonomous weapons it does suggest there will be fewer constraints."

Professor Lee compared it to how eager President Joe Biden was to claim no-one else was killed in the recent assassination of Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.

He added: If you think about the effort that President Biden went to last night to explain how carefully planned the strike against Zawahiri was not to hit civilians [and] avoid collateral damage you can see politically thats obviously important."

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Russia and China 'prepared to go further' with AI weapons for WW3 advantage, expert says - Daily Star

dimitrig said:

Cal88 said:

sycasey said:

Taiwan is part of China? I think Taiwan might disagree.

There is no official entity called Taiwan, not even on that island itself. That island is the home to the Republic of China, while the mainland is the People's Republic of China. Both governments claim the other party as theirs.

The US and the rest of the international community have also acknowledged the One China policy, and almost all recognize the PRC as "China", because it represents 98.6% of Chinese population and 99.4% of Chinese territory, rather than the 1.4% who live on the small island near the mainland and represent the other political entity.

Whether out of shortsightedness, ignorance or shear exceptionalist arrogance, politicians like Pelosi as well as Rep. chickenhawks in the McCain/Cheney mold have been pushing the ROC to officially relinquish its status and become an independent republic of Taiwan. This is going to automatically trigger the invasion of this island by the PRC, a war where the US will have to be involved more directly than in Ukraine, in a conflict that could easily spiral into WW3.

It's also a war that the PRC has been preparing for for the last several decades, and a war that they will absolutely win, regardless of what it might cost them in human life or economic loss, or how many American aircraft carriers they will have to sink in the process.

So once again, idiots people are leading Taiwan down the primrose path, which would result in them being wrecked. The parallels with Ukraine are striking...

To the extent that anyone can "win" a war between the US and China it wouldn't be China that comes out ahead. Even the Chinese would admit that.

How many wars has China fought lately? I think they will find themselves woefully unprepared compared to the US which has been fighting wars across the globe for the better part of last century and all of this century.

Obviously if there is a "war" between China and Taiwan, China will have its way. And historically China has run wild over its population with reckless disregard and fairly little pushback but a lot has changed in the last few decades. The rise of the Chinese middle class has been incredible and made it harder for the CCP to have its way without worrying about blowback. To be clear, the CCP needs to worry about what Chinese people think about before invading and destroying Taiwan and the US can influence that state of affairs if it should so choose.

This is a good article discussing how things really are.

Quote:

This simplistic view of Chinese public opinion is off base. People in China have diverse and well-formed views on a wide range of public policy issues. Not all citizens are supportive of current government policies, nor do all their views reflect state propaganda. And, despite the risks, they are willing to share their opinions.

By contrast, Pan and Xu's research shows that, on average, wealthier and more educated Chinese are more, not less likely, to hold politically liberal, pro-market, and non-nationalistic views. This is particularly significant at a time when the government is taking an increasingly illiberal, statist, and nationalistic turn. While not a sign that China is on its way to democratization, the data indicate that the party-state must contend with well-formed ideological views among its citizens that diverge with its own and is pursuing policies that face substantial, even if quiet, public opposition.Pan and Xu argue that plenty of Chinese are very patriotic but very few are supportive of war in pursuit of those goals. This is especially true for wealthier, more educated respondents. This finding echoes the results of a survey from two decades ago, which showed that China's emerging middle class was far more internationalist and opposed to militarism than other social groups.

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The Official Russian Invasion of Ukraine Thread - Page 44 - Bear Insider

Nancy Pelosis stopover in Taiwan may be brave or foolhardy, but the Chinese reaction so far (lots of live-fire weapons drills close to the island nation, along with acts of cyber-sabotage) suggests how threatened the government of the Peoples Republic of China feels.

The New York Times columnist Tom Friedman even suggested that her visit could touch off WW3. Its a measure of the strangeness of political face (we denigrate the Chinese preoccupation with face, as if our credibility did not amount to exactly the same thing) when the diplomatic visit of a lone government official can become the kind of spark that the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand played in setting off WW1. But almost any inadvertency could start WW3, because deterrence, to work (until it doesnt work that is) requires hair-trigger preparedness.

Its an outrage, its evil, its incredibly stupid, and it ought to be illegal under international law. Oh, wait a minute, it isillegal under international law. See the Kellogg-Briand pact against war, in force since 1929; the treaty on Nuclear Weapons Proliferation (NPT), in force since 1971; and also the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) in the process of being ratified by a majority of the worlds nations and having the force of international law applicable to allsince 22 January 2021.

Democratic nuclear powers rationalize their weapons as good because their governments are representative, but in reality, world-ending weapons are all world-ending, not good nuclear weapons because they are in the hands of good people or bad nuclear weapons because they are in the hands of totalitarian dictators. The catastrophe resulting from escalating into even a limited nuclear war would render such a distinction meaningless.

Nobody, including both the non-democracies and the democracies, wants war. Meanwhile the deterrence system remains a holocaust waiting to happen that would dwarf the Nazi Holocaust. Nuclear policy consists of mulish refusal of nuclear nations to come together in their own self-interest and move beyond obsolete, unworkable games of chicken. All these smart people interested in wielding power seem blind to the reality that it is perfectly feasible technologically to verifiably, reciprocally reduce nuclear weapons to zero, thereby raising humankind's chances of survival considerably.

The merciless and pointless invasion of Ukraine and the equally pointless war China threatens to make on Taiwan (or the second Gulf war for that matter) indicate a profound sickness in power dynamicsthe failure to act upon the truth that we are all in this together on one small planet, and we either are going to destroy everything or learn to get along and save everything. The cries of the hungry and displaced are not cries for trillions of dollars to be spent in endless arms renewal.

President Biden is a good, decent public servant, but he presides over what Elaine Scarry calls a thermonuclear monarchy, identical to the nuclear monarchies of oligarch-dictators like Putin and Xi Jinping.

Where is citizen mobilization around a larger vision of self-interest that would yield servant leadership at the top? Limitless egocentricity insists that the whole nuclear system continue merely for a few men to preserve their power. In the U.S. this egocentricity manifests of course in the phenomenon of Trump, who identifies with dictators and wouldnt mind being one.

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The misunderstanding of power dynamics on the part of these leaders, the utter failure to see past the short-term to the actual state of the Earth at this moment in the great unfolding story of the human experiment, is breathtaking.

Mulishness, even if it is an insult to mules, may be the word to describe this complete misunderstanding, this narrowness of focus on remaining in power at all costs, including the casual willingness to use even nuclear threats in defense of that power. When leaders try to maintain a deterrent system which can fail at any moment for the flimsiest of reasons, the far, far greater power of nuclear weapons is going to inevitably come back to bite us all in our collective butts with its poisonous fangs.

When it comes to the environment, the reality of our oneness as a species has begun to penetrate, but not nearly far enough into the collective soul to make the necessary difference. The ecophilosopher Thomas Berry asserts that this moment on the planet, the radical degradation of our oceans, our air, our soil, along with the rapid extinction of thousands of species of birds and insects and other forms of life, represents the end of the 65 million year period of the Cenozoic, which began with the demise of the dinosaurs.

Our energy as a species must now be focused upon bringing the whole Earth community together into a new moment of creative collaboration, which Berry has called the Ecozoic. That task far transcends the obsolete power dynamics, based in fear, hate and helplessness, that energizes not only the leaders of too many nations but too many of their followers as well.

Ultimately nuclear weapons and environmental disaster represent an identical misunderstanding of our interdependence with each other and the biosystem.

We are, as Berry says, at the end of an old, unworkable story. The new story, whatever form it may take, involves the harnessing of our creative energies in the context of forces infinitely larger and more mysterious than the political ego.

As one example of what might encourage us to move safely into the future, we need look no further than the Webb telescopeto the cooperative spirit displayed by scientists from 14 nations who realized the project. Even more importantly, let us look to the vision the Webb reveals of our place among hundreds of billions of galaxies. We humans are an integral part of 13.85 billion years of creativity. We are the universe looking at itself in wonder. That wonder has the potential to dissolve our obstinate mulishness, re-energizing our politics, our economics, our religious convictions, and our understanding of self-interest.

Crossposted from PeaceVoice

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Beyond the Mulish, Look to the Stars - LA Progressive

Kira Rudik warned the world that the next world war had already started due to the involvement of multiple countries around the globe in her country's pushback against Russia. The Ukrainian MP also claimed countries around the world were just biding their time, and preparing for a wider physical conflict to kick off.Russia has been invading neighbouring Ukraine for over four months and peace talks between the two countries have halted, as NATO-aligned countries continue to support Ukraine to help them fight off the onslaught.

Ms Rudikexclusively told Express.co.uk: "I think at the beginning of the war in Ukraine when Russia attacked us was actually the start of World War Three.

"Because if you indeed see the involvement of the countries, it's like half of the world is involved.

"And half of the world is watching, but also in some cases supporting either Ukraine or Russia.

"So it's already happening and everybody is just biding themselves time to prepare."

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Ms Rudik added: "But we know that the war is inevitable, and it will because it's already happening.

"Look... The output is... We are supported by almost all European countries and by NATO allies who are sending the weapons for us to fight Russia."

Ongoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson has vowed to continue supporting Ukraine despite being ousted as Prime Minister last week.

Boris Johnson has made multiple trips to Ukraine to offer weapons, money and aid.

On Mr Johnson's last visit he promised to train 10,000 Ukrainian troops every 120 days.

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Ex-NATO commander General added: "And anyone who knows the Kremlin knows that they have fought like that since 2014.

"This war did not begin on the 24th of February, it began in 2014 and we now have to catch up... Play catch up in a way to really insure that we are ready.

"And this will have profound consequences in terms of our society, our economies, our defence spending, our industrial capacity.

"And our willingness to do what needs to be done to ensure that ultimately Putin and Putinism is defeated, because there will be no peace in Europe while he lives in the Kremlin."

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'Already started' Russia sparked WW3 as West 'biding their time' for on-the-ground fight - Express

The Russian leader has been implacably opposed to the western military alliance throughout his presidency. He sees the organisation as an existential threat to his regime and has even blamed it for the war in Ukraine Over the years the Russian tyrant has spent billions of rubles on developing new weapons systems to counter the military might of his Western nemesis.

These have included the development of deadly hypersonic missiles, such as the Avangard and Zircon.

Now, the Kremlin has made another addition to its arsenal of lethal weapons designed to give it the edge over NATO.

On Friday, the Russian Navy commissioned the "Belgorod" K-239 submarine at an official ceremony held at the Sevmash shipyards in the north of the country.

The 600-foot sub is the longest in the world and weighs 24,000 tonnes.

The Russians describe it as a "research" vessel that will enable them to carry out diverse scientific experiments in remote areas of the world's oceans.

However, the Belgorod's design allows it to carry one of the most lethal atomic weapons in the world - the Poseidon "doomsday" drone.

The Poseidon is a nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed intercontinental torpedo that can travel up to 5,000 nautical miles at a speed of 50-100 knots.

The forward compartment of the submarine's conning tower can accommodate half a dozen of these deadly torpedoes.

In a speech at the ceremony, Russia's Commander-in-Chief of the Navy hailed Russian scientists and engineers for their technological accomplishments.

Nikolai Evmenov said: Today is a significant day for us - the signing of the acceptance certificate for the Belgorod research submarine and its transfer to the fleet.

"When creating the ship, advanced achievements of science and the latest construction technologies were applied using the existing technical reserve."

READ MORE:Putin's dire tactics exposed as huge 15 tank Russian convoy ambushed

Analysts believe it has a titanium hull, which allows it to withstand pressure at extreme depths and could potentially be used as a seabed weapon.

That is, the idea would be to pre-position the torpedo on the seabed and activate it from there rather than launching it from submarines.

The yield of its warhead could be as high as 2 megatons, which is 100 times the force packed by the Hiroshima bomb and more than 10 times that of the latest version of the B61 nuclear bomb developed by the US.

David Hambling, a technology journalist, told the website Euronews: "Atomic torpedoes have existed way, way back, certainly since about the 1950s.

"And your normal torpedo is about half a metre in diameter and weighs a few tons

"This thing is at least 1.5 m in diameter and weighs tens of tons, so it's carrying a very big warhead."

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Putin unleashes new terrifying weapon as he turns the screws on NATO - WW3 fears erupt - Express

Former Japan Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe's shock assassination has sparked all kinds of wild conspiracy theories involving World War 3 fears.

The 67-year-old who was fatally shot in the back and neck as he gave a speech in the Japanese city of Nara ahead of elections this Sunday (July 10).

Despite the alleged killer telling police he gunned down Mr Abe because he was "dissatisfied" with him, the tin foil hat brigade has leapt to conclusions, claiming a larger force is at play.

READ MORE: Ex-Japan PM Shinzo Abe shot dead by 'navy vet with homemade gun' in front of crowd

Medics tried to resuscitate Mr Abe who bled 'profusely' for hours before confirming his death in the hospital he was airlifted to soon after the shooting at around 11:30am local time (3:30am UK time) on Friday.

Horrified witnesses claim the alleged shooter, Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, crept up to just a few metres behind Mr Abe before firing at his neck and back, causing him to collapse to the ground.

As the former navy veteran made a run for it, Mr Abe's security squad chased him down and were pictured launching into a heroic partnered tackle, pulling at his ankle and grappling hold of his torso.

Much remains unclear about the shooter's motive beyond his 'dissatisfaction' comment but conspiracy theorists have offered their own ideas on Twitter, suggesting it was orchestrated by the USA.

One skeptical individual tweeted: "Call me a paranoid conspiracy theory cynic but I just hope there's no black hands of Washington somewhere involved in the shooting of former PM of Japan Shinzo Abe. Its my first reaction these days based upon history.

"Meaning the USA implicating China or Russia in the shooting to crystalize Japanese / western antagonism against those nations."

Another Twitter user agreed, replying: "I think you are right to always put the CIA or some arms-length splinter cell of the US deep state on the list of suspects.

"The US national security state has been out of control for most of its history since being formed after WW2 to create beneficial chaos in peace as in war."

Popular 'Donald Trump endorsed' American author Nick Adams controversially linked the shooting to the former US President.

He said: "President Trumps allies are under attack. First Rudy Giuliani, now Shinzo Abe. The radical left will stop at nothing to ensure 45 doesn't become 47. Pray for Shinzo Abe."

Unsurprisingly Adams' "hot take" left some social media users baffled while being mocked by others.

One prankster drew a tenuous link between the shooting and the notorious assassination of Abraham Lincoln in the 19th century.

They commented on the tragedy: "Shinzo Abe's last name is the same as Abe Lincolns first name. Both were shot. Coincidence? I don't think so."

World War Three fears have been shut down by a Twitter user who admits to being "repulsed" by conspiracy theories.

They said: "I am utterly repulsed by Filipino people commenting 'WW3 is waving' after the shooting of Shinzo Abe. Clearly, you've been consuming a ton of conspiracy theories (and if I may say, disinformation even) to end up with such a prediction."

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It has even been suggested China had a role to play. One theorist offered: "Quite possibly he couldve had Chinese government connections; as Abe is a very powerful politician who wants Japan to have a military and seeing as Japan having a military is one of the greatest threats to the CCP; its possible that they wouldve wanted someone like Abe dead."

Someone else said: "Im not really one for conspiracy theories but Boris Johnson resigning, Russia acting even more suspicious than usual, and Shinzo Abe being shot in one single day got me on the verge of investing in some tin foil."

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Japan assassination sparks wild conspiracy theories including CIA plot to trigger WW3 - Daily Star

The ongoing war in Ukraine and the cost of living crisis dominate peoples fears. According to a regular Government poll that tracks public opinions and social trends in the UK, 78% of adults were worried about the Russian invasion of Ukraine and 74% about the rising cost of living.

That has outstripped people's immediate fears about the environment (55%), new coronavirus variants (47%), and the impact of the pandemic on their lives at present (36%). The Ukraine war - as well as contributing to the cost of living crisis by driving up fuel and energy costs - has raised the chilling prospect of World War III, and pushed relations with Russia back to the days of the Cold War.

The terrifying vision of all-out nuclear war has even been raised by threats emanating from the Kremlin. Dmitry Kiselov - the Russian TV presenter sometimes referred to as President Vladimir Putins mouthpiece - warned an underwater missile hitting the UK would produce a 500m-high tsunami and leave the nation as a radioactive desert.

At the same time, horrific images of death and destruction in Ukraine continue to be broadcast into peoples homes on the TV news. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) survey, 31% of respondents are very worried and 47% are somewhat worried about the war in Ukraine. Only 4% said they were not at all worried.

And it seems most people are preparing themselves for a long conflict - 42% of respondents believe the war will last for more than a year, while only 9% believe it will be over in between one and six months. Meanwhile, 28% of respondents said they were very worried about the rising cost of living and 46% said they were somewhat worried.

Of all those who said they had concerns about rising costs (including those who said they were neither worried nor unworried), 21% said they felt anxious about money troubles every day. And those fears are clearly justified. Around nine in 10 adults (88%) reported in June that their daily costs had risen over the past month - which was the same proportion as respondents to the same survey in May.

The most common reasons given by adults who reported increases in their weekly and daily bills were price rises when food shopping (94%), gas or electricity (85%), and fuel (77%). Almost half of adults who responded to the survey (46%) said they had reduced the amount of food they bought over the past two weeks - and the proportion of people making cuts to their shopping has increased over time. In May 44% said they had cut back on their food spending, while at the beginning of the year only 18% said they had started buying less.

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People are more scared of WW3 and rising costs than global warming and Covid - Somerset Live