Iranian Leader Vows Not To Cooperate With U.S. In Syria
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Iranian state media quoted a top adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as saying Iran will not cooperate with the United States on the "fight against terrorists in Syria."
Putin Pledges Support To Russian-language Media, Universities Abroad by support@pangea-cms.com (RFE/RL)
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Moscow would continue to support Russian-language media abroad that provides "objective and honest" information on Russia and "its achievements."
Norwegian police say they have arrested the former chief of Russian telecoms provider Vimpelcom, which is embroiled in corruption allegations concerning its activities in Uzbekistan.
He enabled Washington to sustain a fantasy future for Iraq.
Pop star Elton John says he is currently arranging to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, where they will discuss LGBT rights.
Two districts of Japan's capital are issuing same-sex couples with certificates encouraging landlords and hospitals to treat them equally.
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The choice of Ran Baratz, who suggested President Obama was anti-Semitic and compared Mr. Kerry’s mental age to that of a preteen, is subject to cabinet approval.
The prospect that ISIS planted a bomb that blew a Russian airliner out of the sky last weekend raises the stakes for President Obama and the rest of the civilized world. While the evidence of the Islamic State’s culpability remains sketchy, confirmation would elevate the conflict to an entirely new level—a level neither Washington nor Moscow wants. Fingers are crossed in both capitals that some mechanical reason for the disaster will be found, and found soon.
But if the ongoing investigations, which killed all 224 aboard when the Airbus A321 crashed into Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula Saturday, increasing point to a bomb, the world’s war against ISIS will have to shift gears. It will go from being a distant religious conflict pursued by zealots to a major challenge to the international order that can no longer be handled with airpower—U.S., Russian or anyone else’s—alone.
Army Colonel Steve Warren told reporters Wednesday that the U.S. policy toward ISIS has not changed, despite Obama’s order last week to dispatch fewer than 50 U.S. troops to northern Syria to train Kurdish forces battling the Islamic State. He likened the anti-ISIS forces on the ground to “a pack of wolves [that] will hound, pursue, or wear down and ultimately kill its prey … while the coalition provides devastating air power all along the way.”
But Americans are uneasy about Obama’s handling of the ISIS threat. A new Associated Press pollfinds that more than six of 10 reject his strategy. Part of his problem is that opponents fall into one of two camps: those who believe he is doing too little, and those—still haunted by the inconclusive wars in Afghanistan and Iraq—who think he is doing too much.
If the airliner’s destruction in linked to ISIS, it may clarify U.S. thinking in two important ways. It could solidify public support for more military action (imagine if 224 Americans had died in the blast). It also might force Congress to act; it has stood passively on the sidelines since Obama ordered bombing of ISIS targets to begin in August 2014. The U.S. public tends to be fickle about sending troops to fight overseas; a congressional declaration of war on ISIS might go a long way to steeling the nation for a lengthy campaign.
Confirmation that an ISIS explosion brought down the plane would signal that the U.S.-led efforts against the ISIS heartland in Iraq and Syria have done little to deter the terror group’s ambitions. If confirmed, the fact that the airliner was brought down by ISIS’s Egyptian affiliate would only highlight the challenge posed by the group and its expanding network of like-minded terrorists.
Secondly, it would show ISIS’s willingness to bring the war home to both Russians and Americans. Warnings about the threat ISIS poses pale alongside pieces of fuselage strewn across the desert, and forlorn collections of battered luggage from a holiday at the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh. Instead of a conflict confined to faraway lands, and the handful of Westerners murdered there, the destruction of an international airliner would make clear the global menace ISIS poses.
Then there’s a final, disquieting thought. ISIS claims it destroyed the Russian plane because of Moscow’s recently launched air strikes against a handful of ISIS targets in Syria (although there have been far more against other groups trying to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad, a longtime Russian ally). But the U.S. has been attacking ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria for more than a year without generating any major attacks on U.S. targets.
Of course, U.S. airlines don’t fly out of Sharm al-Sheikh, and American airline security, as porous as it can be, is better than the Russians’. But if ISIS is ultimately blamed for the destruction of Metrojet Flight 9268, the U.S.-led war on ISIS will move from a small war of choice to a bigger war of necessity.
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ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Kurdish militants scrapped a month-old ceasefire in Turkey on Thursday, a day after President Tayyip Erdogan vowed to "liquidate" them, dashing hopes of any let-up in violence in the wake of a national election.
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - In Gaza, a clothing store called "Hitler 2" has mannequins posed outside holding knives and dressed in T-shirts with "Stab!" written across the chests.
Putin's Dilemma: How To Respond If A Bomb Caused Sinai Air Crash by support@pangea-cms.com (Steve Gutterman)
Mounting evidence that a bomb on board brought down the Russian jet that crashed on Egypt's Sinai Peninsula poses a tough new dilemma for President Vladimir Putin -- how to respond.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's air force has destroyed an Islamic State base near Damascus, the Interfax news agency reported the Russian Defence Ministry as saying on Thursday.
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Judge Allows Sealed Report on US Terror Plot Suspectby webdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press)
The FBI arrested Cornell on Jan. 14 on charges alleging he planned to attack the Capitol with pipe bombs and to shoot government officials and employees.
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will take a more robust approach towards tackling all kinds of extremism, Prime Minister David Cameron said on Thursday, referring to Britian's review of the Muslim Brotherhood.
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian in the occupied West Bank on Thursday after he ignored calls to halt and attempted to attack one of the soldiers at a crowded bus stop, the military said.
France will deploy an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf to assist the fight against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.
DEA: Drug Overdoses Are Leading Cause of US Injury Deathsby webdesk@voanews.com (VOA News)
Heroin and prescription drug overdoses have reached epidemic levels in the United States, surpassing car accidents and firearms as the leading cause of injury deaths, an annual assessment by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has found. "Sadly, this report confirms what we've known for some time. ... Drug abuse is ending too many lives too soon and destroying families and communities," DEA Acting Administrator Chuck Rosenberg said. "Overdose deaths, particularly...
Newsmax |
Officials Debate Effect of Scrutiny on Police
New York Times James B. Comey, the F.B.I. director, said in a speech at the University of Chicago Law School last month that he was concerned about “a chill wind that has blown through American law enforcement over the last year.” But the White House has distanced ... DEA Chief: FBI's Comey 'Spot On' About 'Ferguson Effect'Newsmax all 100 news articles » |
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South America's leftist governments losing grip on power after years of dominanceby Andre F. Radzischewski - Special to The Washington Times
BUENOS AIRES — A wave of discontent has suddenly put the leftist governments that have dominated South America's political landscape for more than a decade on the defensive, struggling to retain their grip on power in the face of scandals, shifting economic winds and voter fatigue.
The latest example came ...
The coalition soldiers arrived on a dusty ridge line east of this city near dusk, as a cool breeze swept in from the hazy desert plain that stretched for miles below.
After spending much of this week trying diplomacy with China over territorial claims in the South China Sea, Defense Secretary Ash Carter took a different tack Thursday by flying out to the USS Theodore Roosevelt, which is sailing near those disputed waters.
Officials Debate Effect of Scrutiny on Policeby By ERIC LICHTBLAU
Chuck Rosenberg, the acting chief of the D.E.A., became the second top law enforcement official in two weeks to wade into the debate over the so-called Ferguson effect.From Army of One to Band of Tweeters by By JOHN SPENCER
Social media’s hold on soldiers’ attention is damaging the combat cohesion needed in battle.
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November 5, 2015, 8:20 AM (IDT)
The head of Russia's air force Col. Gen. Viktor Bondarev said Thursday that Russian fighter jets could be hijacked in countries neighboring Syria and used to attack Russian forces. Missile systems have therefore been sent to Syria to protect its military forces there. "We have calculated all possible threats,” he said. “We have sent not only fighter jets, bombers and helicopters, but also missile systems," Bondarev told Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper. "We must be ready."
Huffington Post |
Iranian Military Hackers Reportedly Targeting Obama Administration Officials
Huffington Post Iran's Revolutionary Guards stepped up hacking of email and social media accounts of Obama administration officials in recent weeks in cyber attacks believed linked to the arrest of an Iranian-American businessman in Tehran, the Wall Street Journal ... Iranian military hackers focus on US administration officials: WSJReuters all 18 news articles » |
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has today unveiled a new agreement with France that will help pave the way for the next generations of missiles.
Russia has sent anti-aircraft missiles to Syria in order to safeguard its jets involved in airstrikes against militants in the war-battered Arab country, the commander of the Russian Air Force was quoted as saying Thursday.
Nineteen U.S. senators say they want the Pentagon to provide more information to servicemembers on how to protect their credit ratings and prevent identity theft, while deployed overseas.
Voice of America |
China Attempts to Turn North Korea from Liability to Asset
Voice of America China's improving ties and increased influence with North Korea could reflect a shift under President Xi Jinping to convert the Kim Jong Un regime from a potentially destabilizing liability to a strategic asset to counter U.S. power in Asia. Chinese ... and more » |
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Russian nuclear forces conducted a large-scale exercise last week that included test firings of several long-range missiles along with dual-capable shorter range ballistic and cruise missiles, according to U.S. officials.
The U.S. Strategic Command, meanwhile, is conducting a similar nuclear command and control exercise, but without firing any nuclear missiles.
The Russian exercise was closely monitored by U.S. intelligence agencies and was conducted in greater secrecy than past nuclear war games have been, according to officials and military analysts.
A U.S. defense official said the Russian war games involved firing an SS-N-18 submarine-launched ballistic missile, or SLBM, an SS-N-23 SLBM, a land-based mobile SS-25 intercontinental ballistic missile, and a new SSN-30A Kalibr long-range ship-fired missile.
The Russians also practiced firing an air-launched cruise missile during the Oct. 30 maneuvers.
The Kalibr is an intermediate-range land-attack cruise missile that was first used by Russia in combat in Syria against rebel forces last month.
“In general, the results of the drills demonstrated high combat readiness of strategic nuclear forces and high-precision long-range weapons,” said Gen. Sergey Shoigu, Russia’s defense minister, on Tuesday, according to the state-run Itar-Tass news agency.
Mark Schneider, a former Pentagon nuclear forces official, said the Russian defense ministry described the exercise as routine, despite the unusual missile firings from land-based forces, submarines, and strategic bombers.
“Overall, they were more secretive than they have been in the past about this exercise,” Schneider said. “It was announced by the Russian defense ministry, not the Kremlin and fewer details were provided.”
A ministry statement said the exercise practiced “the reliability of relaying combat-training orders and signals along the entire command and control vertical, from the Russian national defense control center to the command posts of formations and military units.”
Russian forces included units of the Strategic Missile Troops, Northern and Pacific Fleets, Caspian Sea flotilla, and long-range aviation.
The SS-25 was fired from the Plesetsk launch site some 500 miles north of Moscow.
SS-25 ICBM (screenshot)
Submarine missiles were fired from the Barents Sea near Norway and the Sea of Okhotsk in the Pacific.
A missile warship in the Caspian launched a Kalibr cruise missile at a training target, and Tu-160 Blackjack bombers fired cruise missiles at target ranges in northeastern Russia and on the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Russian Far East.
A short-range Iskander cruise missile was launched against a target in the Kapustin Yar range near the border with Kazakhstan.
A 3-minute, 44-second video of the exercises was posted on the Russian Defense Ministry Facebook page.
Schneider said the use of long-range non-strategic cruise missiles, including the Kalibr, was new for the Russians. Another new strategic missile thought to be strictly conventional was the R-500 ground-launched cruise missile.
“The use of these missiles in a strategic nuclear exercise tends to confirm Russian press reports that they are both nuclear capable,” he said.
The R-500 reportedly has a range of 620 miles or more, making it a possible violation of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, Schneider said.
“If it is a ‘high-precision long-range weapon’ as the Russian say, it clearly would violate the INF Treaty,” he said. “The Obama administration has not reached this judgment yet but it hardly wants to find more Russian INF Treaty violations.”
The administration believes another ground-launched cruise missile, the SSC-X-8, is the treaty-breaking system. So far, the administration has not responded to the treaty breach, despite pressure from Congress to do so.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Strategic Command began its an annual nuclear exercise called Global Thunder 2016 on Monday.
“The United States’ ability to maintain a safe, secure, effective and credible nuclear deterrent is foundational to our national security and contributes to the security of our allies and partners,” said Adm. Cecil D. Haney, the commander of Strategic Command, in a statement.
“This exercise, and our continued focus on maintaining key capabilities and skills, ensures U.S. Stratcom’s strategic forces remain ready, 24/7, providing flexible and credible options for the president and the Department of Defense.”
The exercise, held with the U.S.-Canada North American Aerospace Defense Command, is being held along with another Arctic-focused exercise called Vigilant Shield, taking place in several locations in North America.
Unlike the Russian nuclear war games, the details of this exercise are secret, a Stratcom spokesman said.
A statement said the exercise checks readiness and validates “the ability to identify and mitigate attacks across all of U.S. Stratcom’s mission areas, with a specific focus on cyber, space, missile defense and nuclear readiness.”
Training requires military components, including task forces and command posts, to evaluate the ability of nuclear forces “to deter, and if necessary, defeat a military attack against the United States and to employ forces as directed by the president.”
“To ensure resilience, redundancy and survivability of our nation’s strategic deterrent forces, the scenario for Global Thunder integrates nearly every conceivable strategic threat to our nation and calls upon all the U.S. Stratcom capabilities that would be provided to geographic combatant commanders in a real-world crisis: space, cyber, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, global strike, and ballistic missile defense capabilities,” the command statement said.
Air Force Maj. Matthew Miller, a Stratcom spokesman, declined to specify threats or locations tested in the exercise.
“As a matter of policy, we do not discuss the details of specific operations associated with exercises,” he said.
The post Russia Test-Fires Series of Nuclear Missiles During Strategic Drills appeared first onWashington Free Beacon.
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U.S. technology companies are increasingly forming partnerships with firms that sell advanced equipment to the Chinese military, raising concerns among analysts that American businesses are indirectly aiding Beijing’s defenses as it assumes a more aggressive posture in regional disputes and threatens U.S. security.
In one recent example, Microsoft announced a partnership with the China Electronics Technology Group in September while President Xi Jinping visited the tech giant’s offices. The agreement will provide Windows 10 operating system technology to “Chinese users in specialized fields in government institutions and critical infrastructure state-owned enterprises,” a press release said.
The technology group, a colossal state-owned entity in China with dozens of subsidiaries and research institutes, said on its website that it is contributing to an “important national project to build large military and civil use of electronic information systems” and that it is pursuing a “military and civilian integration path of development.” Security analysts say that China’s Communist Party has prioritized the development of dual-use information technology with both commercial and military applications, blurring the line between the two sectors.
The Microsoft partnership with the Chinese technology group, ostensibly an agreement to provide computer systems for civilian purposes, could thus also benefit the Chinese military. While the group produces civilian products such as washing machines, it also develops laser and radar technology for the Chinese military and supervises research institutes that helped to complete China’s first nuclear bomb and guided missile.
The electronics group additionally states on its website that it “will bear in mind the sacred mission of national defense and national economy construction, adhering to the ‘national interest above all else.’”
Microsoft did not respond to multiple requests for comment. U.S. companies have said that they follow all U.S. export laws in their dealings with China and that they treat all foreign partners equally.
A recent report from Defense Group Inc., a security firm that provides analysis to the Department of Defense, also expressed concerns about agreements between IBM and several Chinese companies that provide technology to Beijing’s government and military, the New York Times reported.
“IBM is endangering the national and economic security of the United States, risking the cyber security of their customers globally, and undermining decades of U.S. nonproliferation policies regarding high-performance computing,” the report said.
Edward Barbini, an IBM spokesman, disputed the report’s findings and told the Times that it “wholly mischaracterizes IBM’s initiatives in China.”
“All IBM sales and technology licensing agreements comply with U.S. export regulations and require that partners in any country do so as well,” he added.
However, Rick Fisher, a Chinese military expert at the International Assessment and Strategy Center, said that current U.S. laws are not sufficient to prevent China’s People’s Liberation Army from taking advantage of commercial agreements involving American businesses.
“Right now we simply do not have the means to protect Americans from China’s large and growing exploitation of its deep commercial ties with the United States and other countries, to gather technology to fuel its military growth,” he said.
Defense officials have previously accused China of stealing sensitive data from U.S. weapon systems through cyber attacks, including the Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighter jet. More partnerships between U.S. tech companies and their Chinese counterparts, which have close ties to Beijing’s military, could enable even more access to American technology.
At an exhibit in July, the Chinese government promoted its goal of “civil-military integration” by showcasing commercial companies that also produce products with military applications, Fisher said.
A new Chinese aerospace company that produces commercial aircraft, A-Star, also “revealed a line of military aircraft optical sensors, one of which looked like it was copied from the Lockheed Martin F-35’s Electro Optical Targeting System,” he said. “A famous Chinese cyber theft raid against Lockheed in about 2009 may have gathered information on their EOTS.”
“Perhaps A-Star was given that information to reproduce the Lockheed system,” he added. “We don’t know for sure but this is plausible.”
Fisher recommended that the U.S. government consider restarting the Coordinating Committee on Multilateral Export Controls, a multinational body that previously controlled U.S. and NATO exports to the Soviet Union and China for security reasons.
“As all Chinese companies are ultimately controlled by the Communist Party and are increasingly being tasked to serve the Party’s demands for enhanced military power, it is time for the U.S. government to build far better tools to protect American intellectual property and security,” he said.
The U.S. government has previously halted some exports to China due to security concerns.
The Commerce Department blocked Intel earlier this year from exporting technology to four technical centers in China that run a supercomputer and were found to be acting contrary to U.S. national security.
The agency said the computer system is “believed to be used in nuclear explosive activities,” though members of the project have claimed that it is mostly used for scientific research. One of the Chinese companies that helped build the computer, Inspur, now has a partnership with IBM.
The Defense Group report also noted that a former Chinese rear admiral superintends the transfer of IBM technology to its partner, Beijing Teamsun Technology, underscoring the close relationship between the Chinese military and civilian technology companies.
Critics say that the U.S. government and companies are neglecting the current security environment in the Asia-Pacific region and Beijing’s aggressive actions, including its construction of military facilities in the South China Sea and cyber attacks that have stolen sensitive information from millions of U.S. workers.
“The Chinese companies are required to do the best for their government. American companies say they are only answerable to their shareholders,” James McGregor, chairman of the greater China region for the consulting firm Apco Worldwide, told the Times. “So who is looking out for the United States?”
The post U.S. Tech Companies Partner with Firms Linked to Chinese Military appeared first onWashington Free Beacon.
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A United Nations panel of experts says both sides in South Sudan's conflict are expanding their weapons stockpiles and violating a peace deal. But the U.N. Security Council is not moving forward with the arms embargo and sanctions it has repeatedly threatened for such actions.
WKBW-TV |
FBI opens new chapter in war on encryption, 'Going Dark'
WKBW-TV “We should all be concerned with how the government uses its authority,” said Amy Hess, executive assistant director of the FBI's Science and Technology Branch. Hess points out, “If those smart phones are made inaccessible to law enforcement, despite ... and more » |
Americans souring on Obama's Islamic State plan: AP-GfK pollby Josh Lederman and Emily Swanson
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans are souring on President Barack Obama's approach to fighting the Islamic State, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll that also found deep pessimism about U.S. prospects for success in Afghanistan and uncertainty about Obama's plan to leave thousands of troops there when he leaves office.
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The European Union is predicting that 3 million more migrants could arrive in the 28-nation bloc by the end of next year, with the refugee emergency already providing a stern test of EU capacities to offer shelter and welcome.
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U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown wants an investigation into reports the Army discharged more than 22,000 soldiers who had post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury for alleged "misconduct" after they returned home from Iraq and Afghanistan.
 CBS News |
Ex-CIA insider on Russian jet crash: UK "overstating" possibility of bomb
CBS News November 5, 2015, 7:05 AM |As investigators look into the possibility of a bomb having brought down a Russian plane in the Sinai Peninsula, some are cautioning against the theory. All 224 people on board the jet were killed in the disaster. CBS News ... and more » |
Judge Clears CIA in JFK Records Case
Courthouse News Service SAN FRANCISCO (CN) - A federal Tuesday rejected the remaining claims from an attorney who sought CIA records on the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and his brother Robert. Anthony Bothwell sued the CIA in November 2013 for denying his ... |
Former President George H.W. Bush is publicly criticizing for the first time key members of his son's administration. His biography contains sharply critical assessments of former Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, The New York Times reported.
Business Insider |
A test over Syria shows how anxious the US and Russia are about an accidental ...
Business Insider US and Russian aircraft carried out a test of emergency communications over Syria on November 4th, Stars and Stripes reports. The countries' aircraft purposefully flew close to each other in order to properly test communication guidelines that the US ... DoD: No US-Russia Joint Exercise; Russia Opens New Syrian BaseNBCNews.com US, Russia warplanes conduct communications test over SyriaCBS News Russia and US planes 'test safety protocols' in SyriaBBC News Daily Caller-Haaretz all 373 news articles » |
Politico |
Pentagon's top Russia expert says her calls for tougher policy were overrruled
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Syrian opposition leader warns of deception by Russia during peace talks by Ian Black Middle East editor
Syrian National Coalition president urges Britain and other nations to thwart efforts by Iran and Russia to delay Vienna peace talks for Assad’s benefit
Russia and Iran cannot be trusted to take part in international diplomatic efforts to end the crisis in Syria because of their direct military intervention on the side of President Bashar al-Assad, the leader of the country’s main western-backed opposition group has warned.
Khaled Khoja, president of the Syrian National Coalition, urged Britain and other countries not to take part in open-ended talks after last Friday’s meeting in Vienna, the largest gathering yet devoted to ending the four-and-half-year war, which has claimed over 250,000 lives and made 11 million people homeless.
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Anti-China Protests Precede Xi Visit to Vietnamby webdesk@voanews.com (Trung Nguyen)
Anti-China protesters have taken to the streets in Vietnam to oppose an upcoming visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping. The protesters were seen carrying banners that read, “Xi Jinping, give back the Spratlys and Paracels to Vietnam!” or “the Spratlys and Paracels belong to Vietnam.” Videos posted online show dozens of people shouting anti-China slogans and walking peacefully in the streets of both the capital Hanoi and the southern commercial hub of Ho Chi Minh City. Police presence Police largely left the protesters alone, unlike previous anti-China rallies when protesters were quickly dispersed. Social activist Nguyen Van Phuong said he joined the rally in central Hanoi because of the China's aggressive moves in the South China Sea. “[Xi] is head of the state that takes away islands [in the South China Sea], and his force beats up Vietnamese fishermen. He has no good intentions with Vietnam. Therefore, we do not want to welcome him here. We, the people, want to show him that," he said. The Chinese president is scheduled to arrive Thursday in Vietnam for a two-day official visit. According to official media reports, Xi will hold talks with senior Vietnamese officials and plans to deliver a speech before Vietnam’s legislature. It is unclear if he will mention the maritime territorial dispute over the South China Sea. Observers say the address shows the importance that Vietnam attaches to its ties with the giant northern neighbor, and its willingness to repair the relations that have soured over the maritime disputes. Calls for boycott Tran Cong Truc, former head of Vietnam’s border affairs committee, said there are widespread calls to boycott Xi’s visit on social media in Vietnam, and he sympathizes with that sentiment. “But to protect Vietnam’s rights and interest [over the South China Sea], even though it is tough, Vietnam needs to make full use of all chances to sit down and have talk with Chinese counterpart to find a peaceful solution to the dispute," Truc said. The former government official said leaders of the two nations could not afford to miss the “heated and complicated” issue. Vietnamese media quoted Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh as saying that “all major and strategic issues, including the South China Sea, would be on the agenda.” Vietnamese mistrust More than 100 Vietnamese activists last month wrote an open letter to the authorities urging them to rescind the invitation to President Xi. Anti-China sentiments are still running high in Vietnam, a year after Beijing placed a controversial oil rig in disputed waters, leading to several small maritime confrontations and deadly rioting in mainland Vietnam, which is one of several countries with competing maritime claims with China. Beijing's assertive moves in the South China Sea, especially an artificial island building spree in recent months, have led many Vietnamese to warmly welcome the decision by the U.S. to send a warship near China’s man-made islands. But the government in Hanoi gave a noncommittal response to the incident, choosing not to criticize the United States or China. This report was produced in collaboration with the VOA Vietnamese service.
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Будущее мира – роботизированная война by golosamerikius
Эксперты обсуждают технические и нравственные аспекты ведения войны с применением высоких технологий
Originally published at - http://www.golos-ameriki.ru/media/video/future-of-the-war/3036883.html
Originally published at - http://www.golos-ameriki.ru/media/video/future-of-the-war/3036883.html
В Сената США обсудили противодействие российской пропаганде
Originally published at - http://www.golos-ameriki.ru/media/video/countering-russias-propaganda/3036881.html
Originally published at - http://www.golos-ameriki.ru/media/video/countering-russias-propaganda/3036881.html
Staunton, November 4 – Russian trains now travel at “almost the same average speed” they did in the middle of the 19th century, and Russian Rail remains a Soviet-style monopoly for all the talk about innovations over the last 15 years, according to a new study which points to these shortcomings as a major reason for a new effort at reform.
The average speed on the very first Russian railroad, which was opened in 1837, was 51 kilometers an hour, a speed that Russian trains moved until a decade ago, when after several reforms, the speed for passenger trains was boosted to 57.4 kilometers an hour by 2010.
The average speed for cargo trains is even worse: 10.6 kilometers an hour or about what a bicycle rider goes, and slower than it was “a half century ago in the USSR.” That makes logistics “insane,” as it is much slower than in other countries: In Germany and China, cargo trains average 60 kilometers an hour and in the US, 45 km/hour.
Moreover, and compounding these problems, the density of track per 1000 square kilometers is much lower in Russia than in other countries: five times less than in the US, 10 times less than in France, and 13 times less than in Italy. It is even seven times less than the density of track in Ukraine.
Not surprisingly, everyone agrees all this must be changed through some kind of radical reform, Yekaterina Butorina, Aleksey Mikhaylov and Aleksandr Barinov write in Profile; but there are serious disagreements about what that reform should look like, how it should be paid for, and with what it should begin.
Some believe that Russian Rail can reform itself especially since it now has a new head; but others argue that it must be broken up either regionally or functionally. Vladimir Putin has indicated that he favors “demonopolization,” but he has called for that before and it has not yet happened.
Since 2001 when the reform of the branch began, a great deal has happened but not the final stage. Private firms gained control of much of the rolling stock, prices were liberalized, and government subsidies were restructured. But competition has not been created and investment has therefore not followed in the way many hoped. And Russian Rail remains a state monopoly.
Those who want to see it broken up and competition established point to the rapid growth of US rails as a result of competition, but those who favor a monopoly approach point to the degradation less of the rolling stock than of the rails themselves, the correction of which they say requires state intervention.
At present, the three writers argue, there are two basic models for Russia to choose from: the European with divided infrastructure and elements of both monopoly and market operations, and the American which would hold the rails themselves in the hands of the state but allow vertically integrated companies to compete for passengers and freight.
It is impossible to say which strategy Moscow will choose, the three writers conclude. And the fact that each side has a case may mean that the central government will simply delay taking any decision. But “sooner or later,” they argue, Moscow will not be able to avoid doing so if rails are to contribute to the economy rather than hold it back.
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The Hill |
Ex-Pentagon official: US must 'actually deter' Russian aggression
The Hill “We have to actually deter,” said Evelyn Farkas, who until Friday was the Pentagon's deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia. “Some of that has to do with where we move our forces.” Speaking to a reporters roundtable ... Pentagon's top Russia expert says her calls for tougher policy were overrruledPolitico all 3 news articles » |
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