Russian Federation ‘Sooner Or Later’ Will Go The Way Of All Other Empires, Shevtsova Says by James Miller
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Staunton, November 4 – The Russian Federation is not sustainable in its current form, Liliya Shevtsova says. “It is the last empire of its type in the 21st century, and it cannot respond to a single contemporary challenge.” Consequently, it “is on the road to the cemetery” but just when is impossible to say.
In an interview with Belaruspartisan.org, the Moscow political analyst says that the Kremlin is very good at political manipulation, “but the Russian Federation is not a stable state. Sooner or later, Russia will repeat the path of the Ottoman Empire or Austro-Hungary … which fell apart a century ago.”
She argues that Russia must “find a civic form for Russian nationalism and convert itself into a nation state. On this,” she says, “depends stability on the entire Eurasian space.” But at present it is not very clear exactly how Moscow will manage this or whether it can manage it at all.
In comments on Russia’s Day of National Unity which in recent years has featured marches by Russian nationalists and worries about their strength, Shevtsova points out that “until 2013,” there were among many Russian nationalists many “anti-Putin and anti-Kremlin attitudes.”
The war in Ukraine and the appearance of the idea of “a Russian world” hit at these democratic inclinations among Russian nationalists, she continues, noting that “even the democratic wing of Russian nationalism became a means and an instrument of restoring the empire. Nationalism on behalf of the empire.”
With regard to Ukraine, Shevtsova says, “it is perfectly obvious that Putin has recognized that the Russian policy [there] has reached a dead end” and that more violence now would be counterproductive with Putin’s purposes to “force the West to accept Russian rules of the game in this region” and allow the Kremlin leader to “keep Ukraine in a gray frontal zone.”
“Unfortunately, the West now has many of its own headaches,” with German Chancellor Angela Merkel wanting to “solve the problem of Ukraine on the basis of the principle of that country’s territorial integrity, with the exception of Crimea.” But her other problems give her less room to continue to press for this.
Given that, Putin may decide to use force. “Escalation is possible at any moment,” Shevtsova says. And it could even occur “despite his wishes because Moscow cannot control everything in the Donbass.”
But one thing is clear: the Novorossiya project has been shut down for the time being, not so much because of the West but “for another reason: playing with Russian nationalism and ‘in the Russian world’ can in a horrifying way turn against Russia,” Shevtsova points out.
Indeed, “Russian nationalism of an ethnic type or a fascist type represent a bomb under the Russian Federation.” It can only be approached “very carefully” given the “very serious consequences” it can have for the future of the country. And that makes a Moscow drawback in the Donbass especially difficult.
Putin’s efforts to leave Ukraine and reduce the level of open conflict in the Donbass have already led to “confusion in the ranks of the Russian nationalists,” the Moscow analyst says. “And we still do not know in what direction this varied mass of people will go.” But obviously the Kremlin is worried about the militants coming home.
There are obviously several things the Russian government might try, she continues. It might simply shoot them at the border as it did Soviet soldiers who wanted to retreat during World War II. Or it might find another place for the energies of the Russian world to go – possibly Syria or even Central Asia.
But whatever course Putin decides upon – and it is hard to specify because his only strategy is to survive until the next day, Shevtsova argues – it will be very difficult for his Russia to escape from the paradigm of war into which the Kremlin has led the country.
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How could a bomb have brought down the Russian airliner in Egypt? by Emma Graham-Harrison and Ruth Michaelson in Cairo
Getting an explosive device on to a plane is very difficult and doubts remain as to Isis affiliate’s ability to orchestrate such a plan
Airport security in Sharm el-Sheikh is under heavy scrutiny after the British government said a bomb may have brought down a Russian plane that crashed shortly after taking off from the resort town.
A local islamic State affiliate said they had attacked the aircraft soon after it was lost on Saturday but, without any evidence to back up the claim, analysts were sceptical.
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Council Of Europe Blasts Ukraine's Investigations Into Odesa Violence by support@pangea-cms.com (RFE/RL)
A Council of Europe report faults Ukraine's investigations into deadly violence in Odesa in May 2014 as failing to meet human rights standards.
Turkey's Kurds Seek Way Forward Amid Post-election Crackdown by webdesk@voanews.com (Luis Ramirez)
The government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has widened a crackdown on media and on what Ankara sees as separatists in the southeastern part of the country after his party regained control of parliament in snap elections. Meanwhile, a Kurdish-dominated party lost seats in Sunday’s poll, and Turkey’s Kurds are now looking for a way forward in their pursuit of autonomy. Diyarbakir wears the scars of violence that preceded the elections. A nearly 500-year-old mosque in the city was the scene of a clash between Turkish security forces and Kurdish separatists whom Turkey – along with the U.S. – considers terrorists. Erdogan’s government re-launched the war on separatists after June’s inconclusive elections, and the crackdowns continue. Now, with Erdogan's party firmly back in control, Diyarbakir’s Kurds have woken up to the old reality. Autonomy seems more distant than ever, and the road to it ever unclear. “The Kurdish people are tired of war, tired of armed conflict. They want to have a solution - a peaceful, a political solution for the Kurdish question,” said Sertac Bucak, a Kurdish Democratic Platform official. How a political solution can come remains a big question. Many Kurds in the city boycotted the vote and the Kurdish party got fewer votes than in June. “The Kurdish party, HDP, promised before the elections of the 7th of June to forward, to support the peace process. And they said that if you vote for HDP, you are going to have the guarantee for the Kurdish people to have a justice solution, a peaceful solution of the Kurdish question. So this didn’t happen,” said Bucak. Another blow to the Kurds in the elections run-up was the Turkish government’s crackdown on journalists, especially those with the Kurdish media like web-based news agency Dicle, whose offices were raided by security forces weeks before the poll. Its director and writers went to jail. “The day of the operation they entered our building with guns. Like all members of the media, we have press cards issued by the Turkish state. We showed these cards, but none of them cared that we had these accreditations,” said Omer Celik of the Dicle News Agency. Turkey’s leadership has promised to restart the peace process. But with arrests and crackdowns on the media continuing after the elections, and yet more parts of the region coming under curfew, there are no signs yet of when or how that process will start.
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Before the start of business, Just Security provides a curated summary of up-to-the-minute developments at home and abroad. Here’s today’s news.
IRAQ and SYRIA
Democrat lawmakers have expressed concern over President Obama’s strategy in Syria, particularly his decision last week to send Special Forces to assist in the fight against ISIS. Kristina Peterson and Carol E. Lee report. [Wall Street Journal]
Russia has sent anti-aircraft missiles to Syria to stem the risk of attacks against its fighter jets, the commander of the Russian Air Force has said. [Al Jazeera America]
The US and regional allies plan to send increased shipments of weapons and other supplies to assist Syrian opposition rebels hold their ground in fighting there, US officials said. [Wall Street Journal’s Adam Entous]
Moscow and Tehran are not to be trusted to engage in international diplomatic efforts to reach a political resolution to the Syrian conflict due to their direct military intervention on the side of President Bashar al-Assad, says the leader of the country’s Syrian National Coalition opposition group. [The Guardian’s Ian Black]
Syrian opposition rebels have captured a town from government forces in the west of the country following heavy fighting, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and rebels report. [Reuters]
The Syrian government is responsible for tens of thousands of enforced disappearances since 2011, a campaign that is a crime against humanity, according to Amnesty International. [Reuters]
There is no “viable option” for establishing a safe zone in Syria for civilians and opposition rebels, State Department officials told the House Foreign Affairs Committee. [The Hill’s Kristina Wong]
US-led airstrikes continue. The US and partner military forces carried out six strikes against Islamic State targets in Syria on Nov. 3. Separately, coalition forces conducted a further 19 air strikes on targets in Iraq. [Central Command]
EGYPT
The UK said that there was a “significant possibility” Sinai Province, the Islamic State’s Egyptian affiliate, downed a Russian airliner, killing all 224 people on board. Britain suspended all flights to and from Sharm al-Sheikh airport yesterday, concerned that a bomb caused the flight to crash. [Reuters’ Paul Sandle]
US officials did not disagree with the UK assessment, though neither the UK or the US has a formal role in the investigation team that includes representatives from Russia, Germany, France and Ireland. [Wall Street Journal‘ Jenny Gross et al; CNN’s Barbara Starr and Catherine E. Shoichet]
Moscow says that theories about the cause of the crash are “speculation” at this point. [BBC]
The British assessment does not have a “single piece of definitive evidence” to back it up, writes Clive Irving. [The Daily Beast]
If ISIS was responsible, it would constitute an escalation in their tactics, though the attacks would “remain nonetheless within a local context, rather than a global one,” as the Russians are a target due to their Syria intervention, “not because of their actions outside this theatre,” opines Jason Burke. [The Guardian]
SURVEILLANCE, PRIVACY and TECHNOLOGY
UK Home Secretary Theresa May published a draft Investigatory Powers Bill yesterday; containing proposals for a major overhaul of Britain’s spying powers.
The sweeping powers contained in the bill have triggered alarm, despite the initially broad political welcome the draft received. Patrick Wintour and Alan Travis provide the details. [The Guardian]
Britain’s MI5 has secretly collected huge quantities of data about UK phone calls to search for terrorist connections over the last decade, it emerged as Theresa May unveiled the draft bill yesterday. [BBC]
The bill remains a concern for “privacy advocates because of its massive surveillance authorities and vague language and loopholes,” explains Jenna McLaughlin at The Intercept.
The Economist comments on the bill, opining that it “leans on the side of the spies,” and the “crusts thrown to civil-rights campaigners crumble on closer examination.” “[T]he government has decided to speak for its intelligence agencies, who cannot speak for themselves.”
“Despite the fearmongers, Britain faces no threat to its territory or political stability, nothing that remotely justifies the massive intrusion into privacy originally sought by GCHQ and the police,” argues Simon Jenkins at the Guardian.
IRAN
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard hacked email and social media accounts of Obama administration officials in recent weeks, cyberattacks thought to be linked to the arrest in Tehran of an American-Iranian businessman, officials say. [Wall Street Journal’s Jay Solomon]
Iran will work to the timetable laid out by President Hassan Rouhani in implementing the nuclear accord, fulfilling its commitment in time to have sanctions lifted by the end of the year, the country’s nuclear chief said. [Reuters]
Yesterday marked the 36th anniversary of the US Embassy takeover in Tehran, an event marked by growing tensions between hard-liners and those that oppose them over how much Iran will change following the implementation of the nuclear accord, reports Brian Murphy. [Washington Post]
GUANTÁNAMO BAY
Rear Adm. Peter J. Clarke has taken charge of the detention center at Guantánamo Bay as its new prison commander, reports Carol Rosenberg. [Miami Herald]
President Obama’s nominee for the secretary of the Army is being placed on hold by Kansas Sen Pat Roberts in order to prevent the White House from taking executive action to close the detention facility and move prisoners to the US. [AP’s Deb Riechmann]
OTHER DEVELOPMENTS
UN special representative to Libya, Bernardino León was offered a highly-paid job by the UAE, a nation that supports one side of the civil war that León has been negotiating the end of, the Guardianhas discovered, reports Randeep Ramesh.
The recent US airstrikes on the MSF hospital in Kunduz, “raise questions about the quality and reliability of the intelligence that Afghan security forces are providing” to their US partner, as well as American “decisions to act on that intelligence,” writes Sudarsan Raghavan. [Washington Post]
The Defense Department’s former Russia policy expert worked behind the scenes in an attempt to get the Obama administration to adopt a harder line with Moscow, but was overruled. Evelyn Farkas stepped down from her post on Friday. [Politico’s Austin Wright]
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Daily Beast |
Pentagon Farmed Out Its Coding to Russia
Daily Beast The Pentagon was tipped off in 2011 by a longtime Army contractor that Russian computer programmers were helping to write computer software for sensitive U.S. military communications systems, setting in motion a four-year federal investigation that ... |
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PBS NewsHour |
US: Russia Using Heavy Artillery In Syria
RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty WASHINGTON -- A top U.S. State Department official says Russia has deployed heavy artillery near the battlefield cities of Homs and Hama, as Moscow deepens its on-the-ground support of the Syrian armed forces' offensive against rebels. Victoria Nuland ... U.S. diplomats: Russian strikes have not halted Islamic StatePBS NewsHour U.S. says 90 percent of Russian strikes hitting Syria's moderate oppositionWashington Times 85-90 percent of Russian strikes hit moderate Syria rebels: USYahoo News all 95 news articles » |
Man Arrested in Attack on French Train Heroby webdesk@voanews.com (Smita Nordwall)
Police in California have arrested a 28-year-old man in the stabbing of a U.S. soldier who helped thwart a terrorist attack on a French train in August. Airman 1st Class Spencer Stone was stabbed three times in the torso on Oct. 8 in a fight near a bar in Sacramento. The attack occurred shortly after Stone left a nightclub where patrons applauded him for helping to tackle a gunman with ties to radical Islam on a Paris-bound passenger train. Police say the assault had nothing to do with the European terror plot, but involved an alcohol-fueled fight between two groups in a popular nightclub district. They have not said what led to the argument, but that there is no indication the assailants knew who Stone was. Stone, 23, has since been released from the hospital and was promoted to staff sergeant from airman 1st class. In August, Stone suffered a knife wound to the neck and a severely cut thumb when he and two childhood friends stopped the attempted terror attack. Stone, National Guardsman Alek Skarlatos and college student Anthony Sadler were vacationing in Europe when they tackled Ayoub El-Khazzani, who was carrying a Kalashnikov rifle, pistol and box cutter.
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Western Officials: Russia’s Syria Gamble Faces Increasing Odds by webdesk@voanews.com (Jeff Seldin)
The battle between Syrian forces — backed by Russian air power — and rebel fighters played itself out on social media over the course of several hours. “Reports that Jaysh Al-Fatah has began its long-awaited offensive on Morek,this is going to be decisive,” tweeted Abdel Rahman, a self-described history major with more than 3,300 followers, who goes by the Twitter handle @VivaRevolt. Several hours later, @NorthernStork tweeted “Strategic Morek is free!” In the interim, groups like the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, confirmed reports of fierce fighting in the area, part of a larger rebel counter offensive against the Syrian regime. Few decisive gains Whether the rebel forces took or can hold Morek, a town north of Hama along the strategic M-5 highway, Western officials say the fight illustrates the difficulties Russia is facing as it tries to carve out a larger stronghold for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Moscow has shown an inability to make decisive gains, despite a clear advantage with air power. “There has been an increase in Russian air activity this week,” said Operation Inherent Resolve spokesman Col. Steve Warren, adding the Russian-backed forces are meeting with “mixed success.” “The regime forces in some areas have managed to gain a little bit of ground,” he told reporters from Baghdad Wednesday. “In other areas, they gained ground. They were counter attacked, and lost the ground that they gained.” The assessment was backed by a U.S. intelligence official, who said the Russian-supported offensive is making “only marginal gains on the ground,” despite the help of Iranian forces and fighters from the Iranian-backed terror group Hezbollah. 'Operational challenges' The official also suggested that Russia’s efforts to support Assad may be faltering because of unfamiliar conditions on the ground. “The Russian military is accustomed to operating in an environment with a clear and unified chain of command,” the official said, adding that the lack of such structure is “likely to pose planning and operational challenges.” Still, pro-Assad forces have been claiming their share of success. Syrian state television said Wednesday the regime’s forces captured a key road to Aleppo from the Islamic State terror group, breaking what had been a two-week-long siege. Russian officials also said Wednesday their jets had struck more than 200 terrorist targets over the previous 48 hours, taking out a training camp near Aleppo, and underground shelters and other terrorist fortifications in Homs province. Intelligence officials from within the Middle East are cautioning against any rush to judgment. “It’s early on in the game to say how effective they [the Russians] have been,” Lahur Talabani, the director of the Kurdistan Regional Government’s intelligence agency, told VOA. “But I think it’s a game changer, with the Russians arriving.” Talabani, in Washington for meetings with U.S. officials, said the Russians do not necessarily need to strike decisive blows to reach their goals. “Their support role of Assad is very clear,” Talabani added. “They want to keep him alive and they want to go on strong for the negotiations.” Growing ground force Officials also acknowledge that facts on the ground in Syria are prone to change quickly. A U.S. intelligence official noted that while the Russian-backed offensive is “progressing slowly,” Assad’s allies have been steadily applying more pressure since the start of last month. “The major offensive is only in its infancy,” the official said. “Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps troops, as well as Lebanese Hezbollah and other Shia militia fighters, probably did not arrive on the battlefield in greater numbers until mid-October.” And the growing ground force is sizeable, with intelligence officials estimating there now are likely 10,000 or more pro-Assad troops in Syria. Recent reports suggest the size of the Russian force alone in Syria may have doubled in recent weeks to 4,000 troops. Some current and former officials warn, however, that Russia’s Syria policy faces a similar shortcoming that has plagued U.S. and Western efforts in the Middle East and elsewhere: Air power alone cannot win a war. “[Russian President Vladimir] Putin will find in three months, six months, 12 months that the battle tide has turned against Assad, despite his military presence,” said former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst, now with the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center. “Then he’s in the difficult position of having to seriously escalate Russian intervention, putting in tens of thousands of Russian troops, or watching his ally go down in defeat despite Russian planes," he said.
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Syria Rights Groups: Combatants See Civilians as Fair Gameby webdesk@voanews.com (Jamie Dettmer)
As the war in Syria expands, with Russia's role growing, new ground assaults taking place in multiple areas and the United States planning new efforts to fight Islamic State militants, rights activists say civilians are increasingly falling victim. And even combat leaders say that civilians are being used as tools in the war. Rights workers say Russian airstrikes deliberately target schools and field hospitals in rebel-held and contested areas, aping the tactics of the Syrian air force loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. Human rights groups also document cases of rebel groups using civilians a human shields to deter attacks by the Russians and pro-Assad forces. One rebel commander confirmed that practice to VOA. Human Rights Watch accused Syrian rebel groups aligned with Jaish al-Islam, or Army of Islam, of placing civilians including women, in cages to be used as human shields to deter airstrikes in Douma outside the Syrian capital Damascus. On Friday, Douma was struck by merciless Russian and government air raids that left at least 70 people dead and 500 wounded, according to the humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders (MSF). A few days later, Jaish al-Islam fighters rounded up about 500 members of President Assad’s Alawite sect. They are now being held in cages and moved around Douma in trucks to discourage more government airstrikes. A senior rebel commander, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, admitted to VOA that anti-Assad insurgents increasingly have fewer qualms about exploiting civilians as human shields either as blatantly as in Douma or in more disguised ways — and that includes non-combatants on the rebels’ side. In the northern Aleppo countryside, IS and rebel militias aligned to the Western-backed Free Syrian Army, or FSA, have been locked for months in a desperate fight for control of key towns and villages just south of the border with Turkey. “In the villages north of Aleppo around Marea and Tal Rifat, what IS militants are trying to do is occupy civilian areas and then they defend themselves inside them so civilians are around — and we are doing the same thing,” the rebel commander said. “This is total war,” he added. Air war casualties The heaviest casualties continue to come from the air. The Syrian Network for Human Rights, which documents abuses and violations by all sides in the conflict, reported Wednesday that Russian airstrikes in 36 days have “killed more civilians than the U.S.-led international coalition has killed in a year." The group says it has documented 254 civilian deaths, including 83 children and 42 women, in Russian airstrikes since they began September 30. “To the Russians, any military body that fights the Syrian regime is labeled as a ‘terrorist’ that must be eliminated. Russian political figures claim that their aim is to fight terrorism in Syria, embodied by IS; however, they are killing civilians and armed groups that oppose the Assad government,” the group said. Moscow dismisses allegations its warplanes have targeted civilian facilities. Earlier this week, the Defense Ministry denied Western media reports of Russian warplanes bombing hospitals in rebel areas, saying the medical facilities named don’t actually exist. Rights groups, medical charities and locals have accused Russia of bombing up to 10 field hospitals in rebel-held areas, including two in the southern Aleppo countryside, which is currently at the center of a ground offensive by forces loyal to President Assad. “We investigated this information,” Major-General Igor Konashenkov, the ministry spokesman, said Monday. “It turned out, in fact, that there is a hospital only in the settlement of Sarmin. There are no hospitals in al-Ees, al-Hader, Khan Tuman, Latamna and al-Zirba, and, consequently, there are no healthcare workers." Makeshift facilities hit That may be the case in terms of official pre-war government hospitals, but makeshift field clinics have been set up or funded throughout the war by relief groups and charities, including the U.S.-based Syrian-American Medical Society, which supports 95 facilities in Syria and neighboring countries. The Syrian-American Medical Society runs the hospital at Sarmin, in Idlib province, which was reportedly hit on October 20. The Russian defense ministry insists the hospital was “absolutely undamaged.” And this week it posted on social media aerial photographs of the area, purportedly taken 11 days after the attack, to buttress its claim. But an analysis released Wednesday by Bellingcat, a citizen journalist investigative collective that scrutinizes open-source videos, maps and satellite imagery, accused the defense ministry of manipulating data. The group says Moscow has “falsely dated aerial imagery in an attempt to disguise the destruction of the airstrikes that occurred on 20 October.” The researchers conclude that the main target of the bombing raid may not have been the clinic itself but in fact a nearby school. They add, though,“While airstrikes may not have struck the SAMS field hospital directly, it was clearly damaged as images from the ground from locals attest.” “Russian propagandists can claim all they like they are not striking hospitals and civilian sites but they are,” says Bassam, a local governance organizer who travels throughout the war zones across Syria. His family name is being withheld because he has relatives still in Damascus. “It is shocking the Russians are doing exactly what Assad’s air force has been doing for years — why do they fear clinics and buildings used by activists who are developing local councils?”
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US-Supplied Syrian Rebels Win Back IS Territoryby webdesk@voanews.com (Carla Babb)
Syrian forces supplied by a U.S. ammunition drop last month have helped reclaim nearly 255 square kilometers of ground from Islamic State fighters, according to a senior military official. Speaking Wednesday from Baghdad by video conference, U.S. Army Colonel Steve Warren told reporters at the Pentagon that Syrian Democratic Forces pressured Islamic State militants from multiple fronts to regain territory around the northeastern town of al-Hawl. The group, which includes the Syrian Arab Coalition that received the supply drop, was supported from the air by a U.S. AC-130 Spectre gunship and U.S. A-10 warplanes launched from Turkey's Incirlik Air Base. "The aircraft, because they're only flying from Incirlik into the battlefield, they're able to do more turns, quicker turnover. They're able to loiter longer,” Warren said. “We saw that make a difference here." The U.S. recently shifted its strategy in Syria from one of vetting and training Syrian fighters outside Syria to one in which the U.S. vets and trains only leaders of Syrian rebel groups while arming their fighters on the Syrian battlefield. The airdrop of 50 tons of ammunition and grenades to Syrian Arab Coalition fighters on October 12 was the first step. The U.S. also adjusted its strategy to put a small group of fewer than 50 special operations forces inside Syria to help local forces with tactics, operational planning and logistics. “This al-Hawl operation really was a validator for that program,” said Warren, spokeman for the U.S.-led coalition. “We're going to continue to operate this way as long as it works well. If needed, we'll adjust." At least 80 IS deaths Al-Hawl is a mostly Arab town that was held by several hundred Islamic State fighters, Warren said. He said more than 1,000 “friendly” Syrian forces worked together to retake the area, killing at least 80 Islamic State militants. Warren said the U.S. would continue to supply the Syrian Arab Coalition with ammunition, although he did not say when the next airdrop would occur. While the recent gains are good news for the coalition, it is too soon to say the adjusted Syria plan is “working,” according to Michael O’Hanlon, a defense policy expert with the Brookings Institution, a public policy research group in Washington. “It should not be viewed either as a proof of the new strategy or a result of the new strategy, and by itself, it’s not likely to be indicative of any big trend,” O’Hanlon told VOA. During the past year, most of the victories against Islamic State in northeastern Syria have been by Kurdish forces in predominantly Kurdish areas. In addition to gains in al-Hawl, Warren said rebel forces pressured Islamic State fighters this week along the so-called Mara line, a western boundary of Islamic State territory that runs north of Aleppo and near the border with Turkey. Turkey provided synchronized air support with F-16 warplanes to vetted Syrian opposition groups, which included some fighters trained by the U.S. in Turkey. The offensive killed more than 20 enemy fighters and destroyed several Islamic State fighting positions, Warren said.
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The Australian Financial Review |
Vladmir Putin puts up the walls around Fortress Russia
The Australian Financial Review Russian President Vladimir Putin, front, leaves after his meeting with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, left back, as he attends celebrations marking the 700th anniversary of St. Sergius of Radonezh in the Trinity St. Sergius monastery in Sergiyev ... Vladimir Putin tells Russian security council to stockpile nuclear protective ...The Independent Putin signs law on protection of Russian property abroadTASS all 86 news articles » |
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Evidence Suggests Islamic State Bomb Downed Russian Planeby support@pangea-cms.com (RFE/RL)
Evidence now suggests that a bomb planted by the Islamic State group is the likely cause of a Russian airliner's crash over Egypt's Sinai peninsula, U.S. and European security sources said November 4.
Militants claiming to belong to the so-called Islamic State group have recently wrested control from the Taliban in certain areas of eastern Afghanistan. Locals say the brutality shown by this new bunch is unprecedented. VOA’s Ayesha Tanzeem traveled to Nangarhar Province to talk to some of the victims.
5 ноября в Вооруженных Силах Российской Федерации отмечается День военного разведчика.
Voice of America |
Western Officials: Russia's Syria Gamble Faces Increasing Odds
Voice of America Whether the rebel forces took or can hold Morek, a town north of Hama along the strategic M-5 highway, Western officials say the fight illustrates the difficulties Russia is facing as it tries to carve out a larger stronghold for Syrian President ... |
Iran Deal in Spotlight at Netanyahu-Obama Meetingby webdesk@voanews.com (Aru Pande)
Months after U.S.-Israeli relations appeared to hit a new low, President Barack Obama will welcome Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House next week for talks centered on what has long been the key issue of contention – the Iran nuclear agreement. VOA Correspondent Aru Pande has more on the meeting that also takes place amid heightened tensions between Israelis and Palestinians. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could not have been more blunt in his criticism of U.S-led negotiations over the Iran nuclear agreement as he stood before Congress in March. Some Democratic lawmakers called it an affront to President Obama. Less than a month after the deal was reached, Obama offered a counter to Netanyahu's concerns. “A nuclear-armed Iran is far more dangerous to Israel, to America, and to the world than an Iran that benefits from sanctions relief,” said Obama. It is against this backdrop that the two leaders will meet, for the 13th time, on November 9 for talks in the Oval Office. Press Secretary Josh Earnest said the meeting will focus not only on Iran, but the fight against the Islamic State and further enhancing Israel’s security. “Prime Minister Netanyahu has previously described the level of security cooperation that’s been offered by the Obama administration as ‘unprecedented.’ That, I think, is an indication of the President’s personal commitment to the security of Israel and to the unshakeable bond between our two countries,” said Earnest. Tensions and violence are escalating amid a series of Palestinian knife attacks on Israelis and Palestinian deaths at the hands of Israeli security forces. At an October news conference, Obama condemned the violence and urged both sides to tamp down the rhetoric -- while acknowledging U.S. efforts toward a two-state solution have stalled. “I think it is going to be up to the parties, and we stand ready to assist, to see if they can restart a more constructive relationship. But in the meantime, right now, everybody needs to focus on making sure that innocent people are not being killed,” said Obama. John Hopkins University's Daniel Serwer said there is little Obama can do, besides pressuring Netanyahu on Jewish settlements. “They continue to build settlements, they continue to expand the Israeli presence on the West Bank. And that is certainly unacceptable from the American and Palestinian perspective, but that does not mean it will not continue,” said Serwer. Obama, like many American presidents before him, may make one last push towards peace before leaving office, but analysts say without political will from both Israeli and Palestinian leaders, the effort will likely be futile.
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 Первый канал |
Речевой самописец лайнера, упавшего в Египте, поврежден сильнее, чем предполагалось
Первый канал Специалисты, работающие с так называемыми "чёрными ящиками" разбившегося аэробуса А-321, столкнулись с большими сложностями. Речевой самописец оказался повреждён сильнее, чем предполагалось. Записанную на нём информацию необходимо скопировать, причём делать ... Уполномоченный представитель по расследованию катастрофы самолета А321 EI-ETJ авиакомпании "Metrojet" и специалисты МАК продолжают ...АвиаПорт.Ru Данные бортового самописца А321 скопированы, речевой регистратор серьезно поврежденInterfax Russia МАК: данные с поврежденного речевого регистратора А321 скопируютРИА Новости Aviation EXplorer -"Воронежский курьер" - онлайн газета Все похожие статьи: 49 » |
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Page 20
 Правда.Ру |
США не поддержат российскую резолюцию о неразмещении оружия в космосе
Коммерсантъ В ходе 70-й сессии Генеральной Ассамблеи (ГА) ООН Соединенные Штаты выскажутся против российского проекта резолюции о неразмещении первыми оружия в космическом пространстве, говорится в объяснительной речи постоянного представителя США при Конференции по ... Соединенные Штаты выступили в ООН против инициативы РФ о неразмещении оружия в космосеNEWSru.com США отказываются гарантировать неразмещение оружия в космосеПравда.Ру Вашингтон все еще хочет грозить миру из космосаВек - ежедневная газета ИА REGNUM-Ridus.ru-Коммерсантъ Приложения Все похожие статьи: 67 » |
US, British Officials Note Possibility of Terrorism in Sinai Crashby webdesk@voanews.com (VOA News)
U.S. and British officials are telling the media it is "highly possible" a bomb brought down a Russian passenger jet over Egypt's Sinai Peninsula last week, killing all 224 people on board. One U.S. official has told some media that intercepted communications point to the possibility that Islamic State was responsible. And British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said "there is a significant possibility that the crash was caused by an explosive devise on board the aircraft." Experts are examining the wreckage for any signs of terrorism, while some reports say forensic examinations have revealed shrapnel in some of the victims. The experts also have retrieved both black box flight recorders. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the disaster, but has so far not presented any firm evidence to back it up. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi has dismissed Islamic State's claim as "propaganda" and an effort to damage Egyptian security and stability. He is in London to meet Thursday with British Prime Minister David Cameron. With Britain and Egypt offering vastly different opinions on the cause of the plane crash, the incident is sure to be high on the two leaders' agenda. The meeting at 10 Downing Street was scheduled before the crash took place. The Associated Press is reporting that the chief of the Sharm El-Sheikh airport, Abdel-Wahab Ali, was promoted Wednesday to become assistant to the chairman of the state company that runs Egypt's civilian airports. It is not clear what effect this would have on his position at the airport. David Schenker, a Middle East expert with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, tells VOA "it would not come as much of a surprise" if Islamic State was responsible for destroying the plane. Schenker said the extremist group has an interest in attacking both Egypt and Russia, and that blowing up a soft target like a civilian airliner would send a powerful signal. International airlines wary In Britain, Prime Minister Cameron's office issued a statement saying, "While the investigation is still ongoing we cannot say categorically why the Russian jet crashed. But as more information has come to light we have become concerned that the plane may well have been brought down by an explosive device." The Metrojet Airbus took off from the Egyptian resort of Sharm El-Sheikh for St. Petersburg, Russia Saturday and shortly thereafter disappeared from radar. A team of British aviation experts went to the Sharm-El-Sheikh airport to assess security there before any British flights will be allowed to leave the region. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Wednesday no U.S. air carriers regularly operate out of the Sinai Peninsula. But he noted that U.S. air safety experts warned commercial airlines several months ago that they were "at potential risk associated with extremist activity" if they flew over the Sinai. Several airlines, including Air France, Lufthansa, Dubai-based Emirates and Qatar Airways have stopped flying over the Sinai Peninsula for safety reasons. Authorities say they have not found any evidence of a missile attack at the time the jetliner crashed Saturday. That leaves open the possibility of an explosion aboard the flight, either from a bomb or a mechanical failure. A U.S. military satellite detected a heat flash at the time the jetliner crashed over the Sinai. But no missile launch or missile engine burn was detected. Experts told U.S. media outlets the heat flash could point to a catastrophic event aboard the aircraft, such as an explosion, fire, or even just the aircraft parts hitting the ground.
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Air Force Chief: Missiles Sent to Syria to Protect Russian Jetsby webdesk@voanews.com (VOA News)
The head of Russia's air force said Thursday the military has sent anti-aircraft missiles to Syria in order to protect the Russian planes that have been conducting airstrikes there since the end of September. Col. Gen. Viktor Bondarev said in an interview with the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper that the Russian jets were at risk of being attacked or hijacked during their missions. Russia's air campaign has come under scrutiny by others operating in the region, particularly the United States, which has been leading a coalition of countries bombing Islamic State militant targets for more than a year. Top U.S. diplomats said Wednesday that 85 to 90 percent of Russian airstrikes in Syria have hit moderate Syrian rebels and not the Islamic State group. Assistant Secretaries of State Anne Patterson and Victoria Nuland gave that assessment in testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Separately, U.S. Defense Department spokesman Colonel Steve Warren told reporters that less than 10 percent of Russian airstrikes in Syria are targeting the Islamic State group. "And oh, by the way, a majority of their strikes have been using 'dumb' bombs... very unsophisticated," Warren said Wednesday. Russian diplomats and military officials contend the air attacks are aimed at Islamic State extremists. But that claim is widely disputed by the U.S. and others who say the Russians have too often bombed Syrian opposition fighters who have no connection with, or allegiance to, the Islamic State militants. During Wednesday's hearing, committee chairman Ed Royce said Russia is taking a "decisive role in shaping Syria's future, and not in a helpful way." Nuland said Russia is paying a "steep price for its intervention to prop up" the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. She noted that Russia is spending $2 million to $4 million a day to carry out its military efforts in Syria. "If Russia chooses this over the welfare of its own people, they could sustain this for some time," Nuland said. Earlier Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov highlighted the need to decide which of the various opposition groups fighting in Syria should be a part of future peace talks and which should be considered terrorists. Lavrov spoke at a news conference after meeting in Moscow with U.N. envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura to discuss the process of finding a political solution to the conflict that has left more than 240,000 people dead since March 2011.
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Fox News |
Russia sends anti-aircraft missiles to Syria to protect jets during airstrikes
Fox News Russia and Western nations have been engaged in intense diplomatic talks in the past few weeks, aiming to bring about a political settlement in Syria, which has been torn by a civil war since 2011 that has killed 250,000 people and forced millions to flee. and more » |
Likely motivation for any Islamic State role would be Moscow’s action in Syria rather than move towards global terror strategy
If Islamic State did bring down a packed passenger jet over the Sinai desert, as many US and UK officials believe is a “significant possibility”, then the act would mark a significant escalation of the group’s capabilities and strategic aims, but also underline its continuing regional – rather than global – focus.
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Scepticism greets UK assertion that bomb may have been on jet that came down in Egypt, as experts say proof of terrorism could affect Russia’s Syria campaign
Russian media reacted with scepticism to the news that the UK and Ireland were stopping flights to Sharm el-Sheikh over fears a bomb was on the Metrojet-operated A321 that crashed on Saturday.
“While experts are working at the air crash site in Egypt and trying to establish the causes of the tragedy, in London they already know everything ahead of time,” the national daily newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda said in its news article.
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If it is proved that a bomb brought down the MetroJet plane, it will damage Putin's domestic reputation for security
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China Attempts to Turn North Korea from Liability to Assetby webdesk@voanews.com (Brian Padden)
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 politics Professor Suh Jin-young at Seoul's Korea University sees China under Xi attempting to establish itself as a “great power” equal to the United States. Beijing’s more assertive foreign policy has led to increased tensions with Washington in the South China Sea, where recently the U.S. Navy challenged Beijing’s extensive jurisdictional claims to artificial islands in one of the busiest shipping routes in the world. The growing competition between Beijing and Washington for power and influence in the region, said Professor Suh, is also at the heart of China’s recent outreach to North Korea. “In the process of dealing with the United States, President Xi started to reassess North Korea’s strategic value. So China is putting more effort into normalizing relations with North Korea,” Suh said. The impoverished North is still seen by many in the region as an economic burden that China must support and an unpredictable, unstable neighbor that could ignite a widespread conflict and even a nuclear war. Beijing is still in agreement with Washington and Seoul that Pyongyang must dismantle its nuclear program. But China does not share South Korea and Washington’s long-term goal to replace the militarily divided peninsula with a pro-American, democratic, unified Korea on its border. And Beijing is skeptical that Washington’s policy of containment, diplomatic isolation and sanctions will succeed in pressuring Pyongyang to halt its nuclear development and come back to the “six party” talks. Under the 2005 “six party” joint agreement with South Korea, the United States, China, Russia and Japan, North Korea agreed to dismantle its nuclear weapons program in exchange for economic aid, security guarantees and improved diplomatic ties. Pyongyang ultimately walked away from the deal and conducted three nuclear tests that resulted in U.N.-imposed sanctions on North Korea and strained relations with China. Beijing wants a buffer President Xi recently moved to repair Sino-North Korean ties by sending a high level delegation to North Korea’s founding party anniversary celebration. There are also reports of expanded economic development at the China, North Korea border. Officials in Seoul have said that Beijing’s influence is in part responsible for the uncharacteristic restraint Pyongyang has since exhibited, cooperating with Seoul in hosting separated families reunions, and not following through on threats to launch a long range rocket or conduct a fourth nuclear test. In the short term Professor Suh says, Beijing is exerting influence in a constructive manner to split Seoul from Washington’s position that Pyongyang must halt its nuclear program before new talks can begin. “Denuclearization is a goal which can be reached at the end of a long process, and I think it is impractical for North Korea to declare the goal first,” Suh said. China’s long-term goal, he says, is to try to stabilize the North to maintain a buffer against a U.S. allied South Korea. Beijing is also less concerned about the accusations of extensive human rights violations committed by the Kim family regime. China continues to block a U.N. resolution in the Security Council to refer Kim Jong Un and other high level officials in Pyongyang to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity based on a report documenting a network of political prisons in North Korea and atrocities that included murder, enslavement, torture, rape, and forced abortions. Pyongyang officials have also criticized the U.S. anti-North Korea nuclear position as hypocritical given the American military’s large nuclear stockpile and the more than 28,000 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea. However there have been recent reports of activity at a North Korea nuclear test site and indications that North Korea is making progress on developing long-range missiles that could reach the U.S. mainland and miniaturizing nuclear warheads to fit on a missile. A North Korean missile launch, nuclear test or other provocation would undermine Xi’s current outreach and likely realign more closely Beijing with Washington on a North Korea containment policy. Youmi Kim in Seoul contributed to this report.
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Monks, Military, More Officials Sought in Thai Teen Sex Caseby webdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press)
Police in Thailand say they have cracked down on a sex ring that lured underage girls to work as prostitutes whose services were sold to high-ranking military officers, Buddhist monks and a variety of other officials. Police in the northern city of Chiang Mai, where the network operated, said Thursday there are 23 suspects being sought for involvement in the underage sex ring, which used female procurers to lure girls as young as 13 to brothels. Police Maj. Veerachon Boontawee says that among those arrested is the former abbot of a prominent Buddhist monastery and a senior former military officer. He says the vice rector of a Buddhist university in Chiang Mai turned himself in on Wednesday.
Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said there was a 'significant possiblity' Isis were responsible for the plane's crash
Moscow has sent anti-aircraft rocket systems, commander of the air force Viktor Bondarev told a Russian tabloid
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By making an enemy of Isis, the Russian president has put his country’s citizens directly in the firing line
If the British government is correct in suggesting an on board bomb brought down the Russian Airbus over Sinai on Saturday, killing 224 people, the political and human price of Vladimir Putin’s military adventurism in Syria just got a lot higher.
The Russian president’s intervention came out of the blue last month, following a rapid, covert buildup of personnel and weapons. His main motive was to shore up the crumbling regime of Bashar al-Assad in Damascus and boost Syrian government forces. But Putin justified his action, which was not authorised in advance by the UN security council, to an international audience by saying that Russian combat planes would target Islamic State forces already under attack in Syria by a US-led coalition.
Related: Timeline of Russian terror attacks
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CBS News |
Russia has anti-aircraft missiles in Syria
CBS News MOSCOW -- 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 RussianAir Force was quoted as saying Thursday. Russia has been ... Russia sends anti-aircraft missiles to SyriaAl Jazeera America Russia sends anti-aircraft missiles to Syria to protect jets during airstrikesFox News all 162 news articles » |
Генерал армии Сергей Шойгу особо подчеркнул ту роль, которую играют военные разведчики в обеспечении руководства государства необходимой разведывательной информацией, борьбе с терроризмом, противодействии попыткам дестабилизации обстановки в стране.
 РИА Новости |
Путин: Россия будет защищать интересы соотечественников за рубежом
РИА Новости Программа содействия добровольному переселению соотечественников будет продолжена, заявил президент РФ Владимир Путин в ходе Пятого Всемирного конгресса соотечественников, проживающих за рубежом. Президент России Владимир Путин. Архивное фото. © РИА Новости. Путин заявил о подготовке концепции о русских школах за рубежомВзгляд Путин: РФ всегда будет защищать соотечественников за рубежом, в том числе в Ливии и СирииТАСС Путин пообещал защитить россиян в Сирии и ЛивииБлокнот Воронеж Все похожие статьи: 76 » |
CAIRO (Reuters) - The cause of a Russian plane crash in Egypt on Saturday is looking more like an explosion but it is not clear whether it was linked to fuel or engine trouble or a bomb, an Egyptian source close to the investigation of the black boxes said on Wednesday.
Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin says UK flights from Sharm el-Sheikh held as concerns grow that a bomb may have exploded the Russia jet that crashed in Egypt
Investigation into alleged money laundering for drug traffickers leaves thousands of unexpected victims: crocodiles, lions and monkeys
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Puerto Rico’s governor submitted a long-awaited bill Wednesday to restructure the island’s heavily indebted public power company as legislators rush to debate multiple measures to help keep the U.S. territory financially afloat.
Authorities in the Dominican Republic have identified the remains of an expatriate U.S. businessman missing since November 2014 and plan to file charges against two people suspected of involvement in his death.
Luis Ortiz says he has no idea how he picked up parasite that caused brain blockage and left him 30 minutes from death
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More than three in four soldiers say they are struggling to cope with post-traumatic stress disorder after serving in Afghanistan and Iraq but getting mental health care remains a struggle for them, according to a new survey released Wednesday by the Wounded Warrior Project.
Of the 23,000 injured current and ...
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LONDON (AP) - The British government plans to make telecommunications firms keep records of customers' Web histories and help spies hack into computers and phones under a new cyber-snooping law unveiled Wednesday.
The draft Investigatory Powers Bill is intended to replace a patchwork of laws, some dating from the Web's ...
Two top U.S. diplomats on Wednesday defended President Barack Obama's policy to defeat Islamic State militants in Syria in the wake of Russian intervention that both said has dangerously destabilized the battlefield.
Washington Post |
DEA chief joins FBI chief in giving credence to 'Ferguson effect'
Washington Post Chuck Rosenberg, head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, said Wednesday that he agrees with FBI Director James Comey that police officers are reluctant to aggressively enforce laws in the post-Ferguson era of capturing police activity on smartphones ... DEA head backs FBI on 'Ferguson effect'The Hill DEA Chief Backs FBI Director on Whether 'Ferguson Effect' May Be RealABC News DEA Head Joins FBI Chief Saying “Ferguson Effect” May Be RealBuzzFeed News Newsmax-USA TODAY all 82 news articles » |
Fox News |
North Carolina judge accused of trying to bribe FBI officer with cash, beer
Fox News A North Carolina state judge was arrested Wednesday on charges he tried to bribe an FBI officer to gather text messages between two phone numbers in what the judge said was a family matter. Superior Court Judge Arnold Jones II, who hears cases in three ... The Latest: Judge Charged With Trying to Bribe FBI AgentABC News all 119 NC judge charged with trying to bribe official with 'couple cases of beer'News & Observer all 95 news articles » |
Reuters UK |
New York Attorney and Two Registered Brokers Arrested for Engaging in a $300 ...
Federal Bureau of Investigation (press release) (blog) Mr. Capers expressed his appreciation to the FBI for its tireless efforts in leading the investigation and thanked the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, New York Regional Office, for their significant cooperation and assistance. FBI: New York Attorney and Two Registered Brokers Arrested for Engaging in a ...7thSpace Interactive (press release) all 4 news articles » |
While Moscow asserts that its military campaign in Syria is aggressively targeting the Islamic State, a top U.S. State Department official said Wednesday that as much as 90 percent of strikes carried out by the Russian fighter jets over the past month have actually hit moderate opposition rebels groups in ...
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