Analysis: US-Turkey deal on Syria a big gamble | Majority of House Backs Resolution to Kill Iran Deal | Terror Victims Eye Thawing With Iran We want Iran cooperation, not meddling, Gulf Arabs tell Kerry | Smart Gadgets From Guns to Cars Ripe for Hacking | Nato reports surge in jet interceptions as Russia tensions increase - The Guardian
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- Analysis: US-Turkey deal on Syria a big gamble
- Majority of House Backs Resolution to Kill Iran Deal
- Terror Victims Eye Thawing With Iran
- We want Iran cooperation, not meddling, Gulf Arabs tell Kerry
- Smart Gadgets From Guns to Cars Ripe for Hacking
- Nato reports surge in jet interceptions as Russia tensions increase - The Guardian
Analysis: US-Turkey deal on Syria a big gambleby By STEVEN R. HURST
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are both taking a big gamble as they agree to work together against the Islamic State group militants in Syria....
Police are searching for two men who walked up to a Brooklyn house party and unleashed a hailstorm of bullets, wounding nine people.
The nuclear deal between the U.S. and Iran doesn’t address a key source of tension: the billions of dollars U.S. courts say Iran owes to terrorism victims.
DOHA (Reuters) - Iran's nuclear deal should bring stability and "good neighborliness" rather than interference, Gulf Arab states told U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday as they began talks on the merits of its historic accord with world powers.
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Eight top ex-CIA officials launch bid to rebut 'torture report'
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Hackers are not just after your computer: connected devices from cars to home security systems to sniper rifles are now targets for actors looking to steal or cause mischief.
The rapid growth in the "Internet of Things" has opened up new opportunities for cyber-attacks and new markets for cyber defenders.
This is among the hot topics at a Black Hat computer security conference that kicks off in Las Vegas on Sunday and an infamous Def Con hacker gathering that follows.
Early glimpses have been provided of scheduled presentations about how to commandeer control of some Chrysler Fiat vehicles or accurately retarget self-aiming sniper rifles.
"The Internet of Things is definitely one of the big new frontiers," said Christopher Kruegel, co-founder of cyber-security firm Lastline and a professor of computer science at a state university in Southern California.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles issued a safety recall for 1.4 million US cars and trucks in July after hackers demonstrated that they could take control their systems while they are in operation.
The recall came after cyber-security experts Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek of the firm IOActive Labs remotely commandeered a Jeep Cherokee, made by Chrysler, to demonstrate the vulnerability of the vehicles' electronic systems.
As reported in Wired magazine and elsewhere, working from laptop computers at home, the two men were able to enter the Jeep's electronics via its online entertainment system, changing its speed and braking capability and manipulating the radio and windshield wipers.
After the report, Chrysler issued a free software patch for vulnerable vehicles even while saying it had no first-hand knowledge of hacking incidents.
Miller and Valasek are to reveal more about their Jeep hack at Black Hat.
"The ambiguous nature of automotive security leads to narratives that are polar opposites: either we're all going to die or our cars are perfectly safe," read a description a scheduled briefing by the researchers.
"In this talk, we will show the reality of car hacking by demonstrating exactly how a remote attack works against an unaltered, factory vehicle."
Intel security vice president Raj Samani told AFP of an earlier demonstration of using hacks to take control of accelerators of cars, one of which was crashed into a wall.
"Cyber threats have been real threats for a while," Samani told AFP.
"Stuxnet should have been the wake-up."
Low-hanging fruit
Iran was hit in 2010 by several computer attacks including the Stuxnet virus widely believed to be developed by the US government targeting Tehran's nuclear program
Iran was hit in 2010 by several computer attacks including the Stuxnet virus widely believed to be developed by the US government targeting Tehran's nuclear program
Most Stuxnet infections were discovered in Iran, giving rise to speculation it was intended to sabotage nuclear facilities there to derail efforts to make a nuclear bomb.
"The idea of bridging the gap between the cyber world and the physical world has been around for a while," Kruegel said, referring to long-standing fears of possible cyber-attacks on power grids, water plants, and other infrastructure targets.
"Now, these proof-of-concepts show that it is a real threat. All these devices are out there and reachable, and security is terrible."
Stuxnet-type attacks were seen as the work of sophisticated, state-sponsored actors with ample resources and time. The explosion of connected devices in the booming Internet of Things has created easy targets for independent hackers motivated by greed or malice, according to security researchers.
"It's hard to find a way into Windows 10, but now you have these devices that are not hard to get into," Kruegel said, referring to latest generation Microsoft computer operating system.
"It is low-hanging fruit, in a way."
Hacking smart watches, door locks, fitness bands, power meters, or other devices woven into the Internet of Things also carries the risk of villains tapping into rich troves of data gathered by sensors monitoring many aspects of people's lives.
Samani told of shopping for a kettle recently only to find he could buy one with Wi-Fi connectivity.
Data from a home smart meter could reveal what types of devices are being powered inside as well as "when you have a cup of tea, make toast, or in most cases what TV show you are watching," he said.
Smart but not secure
Protecting gadgets in the Internet of Things is possible, but increases costs of smart gadgets while manufacturers prefer to keep prices low.
Protecting gadgets in the Internet of Things is possible, but increases costs of smart gadgets while manufacturers prefer to keep prices low.
"Given the insecurity we see regularly, it's evident that for most makers that it isn't a priority," IOActive chief technology officer Cesar Cerrudo told AFP.
Samani joked that as the only computer security person presenting at a recent sensor conference in Germany, he was the "most unpopular guy" there.
"We haven't seen planes drop out of the sky or cars run off the road, that we know of, but these are the issues we face," he said. "Real world hacks are coming."
Lack of a profit motive for hackers with the right skills to commandeer control of planes, cars, or rifles was considered a prime factor for the lack of trouble so far.
"The guys who can do it don't have an interest now," Kruegel said.
"But, when you get the bored kid or the person who like to create havoc you will have a problem."
Read the whole story
· · · ·
 NDTV |
Smart Gadgets From Guns to Cars Ripe for Hacking
NDTV This is among the hot topics at a Black Hat computer security conference that kicks off in Las Vegas on Sunday and an infamous Def Con hacker gathering that follows. Early glimpses have been provided of scheduled ... The recall came after cyber ... Chrysler offers hacking fixPhilly.com Smart gadgets ripe for hackingThe Australian all 27 news articles » |
intelnewsjoe by Joseph Fitsanakis
Internal reports by American intelligence agencies say that the Islamic State remains strong in Iraq and Syria, and that the group has been able to effortlessly replace its 10,000 fighters who have been killed in the past year. Despite the over $1 billion spent in the war against it by the Syrian and Iraqi governments, as well as by the West, the militant group is “fundamentally no weaker” than it was a year ago, when the United States began a bombing campaign targeting Islamic State strongholds, according to the reports.
 The Star Online |
Government cybersecurity improving, more work to do: White House
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 The Guardian |
Nato reports surge in jet interceptions as Russia tensions increase
The Guardian Nato member aircraft were forced to conduct more than 500 scrambles over Europe in 2014 – a fourfold increase on the previous year. Nearly 85% of these were to intercept Russian aircraft. This year, there have already been more than 300 scrambles, ... |
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 Independent Online |
Car hacking risk may be broader
Independent Online Washington - The cybersecurity issues that led Fiat Chrysler to recall 1.4 million vehicles last month could pose a problem for cars and trucks from other car companies the top US vehicle safety regulator said on Friday. Mark Rosekind, who heads the ... US regulator says hacking risk may be broader than Fiat ChryslerVentureBeat Car hacking risk may be broader than Fiat Chrysler: US regulatorThe Star Online NHTSA begins investigation on Fiat Chrysler's recent Jeep recall to block hackingThe Next Digit Post-Bulletin -NDTV all 262 news articles » |
A majority of House lawmakers now support a resolution to reject the recently signed nuclear agreement with Iran, marking another blow to the White House’s aggressive push to convince Congress to back the deal, according to sources on Capitol Hill.
At least 218 Republican lawmakers have signed on to support a resolution expressing “firm disapproval” of the nuclear deal, which would provide Iran with billions of dollars in sanctions relief while enabling it to continue work on ballistic missiles and other nuclear research.
The measure, which is being led by Rep. Peter Roskam (R., Ill) and was first reported by theWashington Free Beacon, comes as Congress takes 60 days to review the deal before voting on it.
Many lawmakers, including a growing number of Democrats, have come out against the deal, citing concerns it does not do enough to limit Iran’s nuclear program.
Critics remain most concerned about portions of the deal that will ban U.S. inspectors from Iran’s nuclear sites and remove restrictions on the Islamic Republic’s ballistic missile program.
The Obama administration has launched an aggressive push to sell the deal, both on Capitol Hill and among the public. President Barack Obama and other senior administration officials have been holding conference calls with liberal groups to sell the deal and put pressure on Congress.
Support for the resolution rejecting the deal is a sign that many lawmakers have made up their minds well before the congressional review period expires.
At least three members of the House leadership, as well as 18 of 22 House committee chairmen and 23 of the 25 GOP members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, have already signed on to back the resolution, according to figures provided by congressional sources.
House Freedom Caucus Chair Jim Jordan (R., Ohio) and Republican Study Committee Chair Bill Flores (R., Texas) also back the measure.
More and more lawmakers are deciding to oppose the deal on a daily basis, Roskam told the Free Beacon.
“Time is not the friend of this deal. The more time Members spend evaluating this agreement, the more they realize it’s an historic mistake,” Roskam said. “While the administration continues to flaunt a false choice between this deal and war, Secretary [John] Kerry said repeatedly over the course of the negotiations that he would walk away from a bad deal.”
However, “if that was the case, then surely there was an alternative besides this dangerous agreement and war,” Roskam said. “Congress and the American people believe a better agreement is still achievable, and we can start by walking away from this one. This is why a majority of the House is already prepared to vote against this deal.”
Congress will “do everything in our power to shut down an accord that so utterly fails to shut down Iran’s nuclear program,” he said.
The resolution explicitly states that Congress disapproves of the nuclear deal and reiterates support to stop Iran from building a nuclear weapon.
The resolution also rejects key portions of the deal, including ones that provide Iran billions of dollars in assets and approve the Islamic Republic’s right to construct ballistic missiles and freely purchase arms.
In addition, it highlights that the deal “allows key restraints on Iran’s nuclear program to expire within 10 to 15 years, including those on Iran’s domestic uranium enrichment program and heavy-water reactor at Arak.”
“The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPOA] fails to address Iran’s egregious human rights record, Iran’s role as the world’s leading state sponsor of international terrorism, and Iran’s unjust imprisonment of innocent United States citizens,” the resolution states.
Roskam has spoken to colleagues about the resolution since spearheading it several weeks ago, according to sources familiar with the situation. The lawmaker spent most of last week on the floor wrangling support for the resolution.
Rep. Mac Thornberry (R., Texas), chair of the powerful Armed Services Committee, became the 218th co-sponsor of the resolution on Friday, when he called Roskam to lend his support, sources said.
Thornberry had been withholding judgment of the deal until he was able to grill senior Obama administration officials about it during a hearing last week.
Roskam will speak to House Democrats about the measure over the August recess to secure a veto-proof majority, sources said.
A senior congressional aide familiar with the effort said the administration is failing to convince lawmakers to back the deal.
“It appears the administration’s sales pitch for this deal is falling on deaf ears. Closed-door briefings and public hearings have apparently left Members with more questions than answers, and the administration’s decision to circumvent Congress by first bringing the deal to the UN infuriated key Democrats who are otherwise loyal to the president,” the source said.
“This level of opposition so early in the review period indicates that Congress really has a chance of killing the agreement. What Congressman Roskam has done—securing 218 commitments from Members vote against the deal in just two weeks—is a rather remarkable feat. He still has more work to do, but this is an impressive start,” the source added.
In the weeks since the deal was signed, critics have warned that it will only embolden Tehran’s intransigence, including its illicit nuclear relationship with North Korea.
Meanwhile, Iranian officials have downplayed comments by the Obama administration maintaining that the deal shuts down Iran’s pathway to the bomb while imposing a strict inspections regime.
Hamid Baeidinejad, an official in the Iranian foreign ministry and one of the country’s nuclear negotiators, claimed in an interview that “the remarks by the western officials are ambiguous comments which are merely uttered for domestic use and therefore we should say that there is no ambiguity in this [nuclear] agreement.”
Read the whole story
· · · ·
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Everything you need to know about hackers but were too afraid to ask
UTSA Today Nicole Beebe, the Melvin Lachman Distinguished Professor in Entrepreneurship and associate professor of information systems and cybersecurity in the UTSA College of Business, says it comes down to the hard truth that information is power. “Everything ... |
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There were 1,700 "intrusions" by migrants who managed to break into the Channel Tunnel's freight terminal overnight, French police say.
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1 killed, 5 injured in SUV crash following 'American Idol' audition in Philadelphia
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Russian security forces kill 6 suspected militants in North Caucasus
CAIRO (AP) — Despite persistent human rights concerns, the United States on Sunday resumed formal security talks with Egypt that were last held six years ago and kept on hiatus until now amid political unrest that swept the country in the wake of the Arab Spring.
Despite rights concerns, US resumes formal security talks with Egypt after 6-year hiatus
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The violence emanating from Israel’s extreme right in recent days has prompted national soul searching and new questions about whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government can hold.
Officer Sean Bolton was killed during a traffic stop, police say.
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An arson attack by a Jewish extremist that killed a Palestinian toddler came on the heels of stabbings by an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man in Jerusalem’s annual Gay Pride Parade.
After extremist attacks, the Israeli security cabinet has approved the detention without trial of citizens suspected of attacking Palestinians. "Administrative detention" had been used only for Palestinian suspects.
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The nuclear deal between the U.S. and Iran doesn’t address a key source of tension: the billions of dollars U.S. courts say Iran owes to terrorism victims.
A police officer who was shot during a traffic stop in Memphis died at a hospital later, Tennessee authorities said early Sunday.
 Fox News |
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Official lack of action to protect Mexican journalists criticized after photographer killed
CAIRO (Reuters) - The United States and Egypt are returning to a "stronger base" in bilateral ties despite tensions and human rights concerns, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday after talks with his Egyptian counterpart.
Tent blows off moorings during storm, kills 1 and injuring 20 at festival near Chicago
A manhunt was under way on Sunday in Tennessee for a parolee suspected of fatally shooting a Memphis police officer who apparently interrupted a drug transaction when he stopped to investigate an illegally parked car, police said. The slain policeman, Sean Bolton, 33, was confronted by the gunman and shot multiple times during a brief scuffle after the officer pulled up to the parked car and shined his spotlight on the vehicle, Memphis police said in a statement. Investigators also recovered a handgun in a field near the shooting scene, the Memphis Commercial Appeal newspaper reported.
Igor Grishin / MTPetrozavodsk, the capital of Karelia, stretches along the banks of Lake Onezhskoye, about 300 kilometers east of Russia’s border with Finland.
In an office building in Russia's northern city of Petrozavodsk, chance encounters between representatives of the mayor's office and the local legislature who share the building are avoided at all costs.
Petrozavodsk, capital of the republic of Karelia, is one of very few Russian cities with an elected mayor — Galina Shirshina — who is not from the ruling United Russia party. Together with prominent anti-drugs campaigner Yevgeny Roizman, who was elected mayor of Yekaterinburg, she is one of the rare opposition candidates to win the mayoral elections of 2013, despite the authorities' best efforts to push forward United Russia candidates.
Canceling Mayoral Elections: A Hot-Button Issue
Galina Shirshina is not alone in her conviction that Petrozavodsk should continue holding mayoral elections.
In addition to her veto, Petrosovet faces a judicial obstacle, owing to a complaint filed earlier this month with the region's highest court by a pair of Communist lawmakers.
The first hearing in the case, which was held last Tuesday, inspired hope in Alexander Stepanov, the deputy that initiated the suit.
“Petrosovet rushed this decision because elections scare them,” he told The Moscow Times on Wednesday. “But there is precedent for the Supreme Court overturning a law that has already passed, so I’m optimistic,” the lawmaker added.
Stepanov made clear, however, that he did not challenge Petrosovet's decision in a bid to do Shirshina any favors, noting that she does not have his political backing. Rather, he is motivated by his belief that city residents should have the right to choose their leader.
Fifteen venerated citizens of Petrozavodsk, most of them veterans of the Great Patriotic war, also expressed their disagreement with the decision, which they referred to as “antidemocratic, unjustified and contrary to the interests of Petrozavodsk's 260,000 residents,” in a letter to Petrosovet's chairman Gennady Bondarchuk.
One of them, prominent local architect Vyacheslav Orphinsky, told The Moscow Times that the matter should be determined via a referendum, and said he personally considered Shirshina a great mayor.
“She tolerates criticism very well,” he said. “I'm a member of a council established by the city administration, and she always listens to what I have to say, no matter how harsh it is,” he added.
Now, in a pattern seen playing out in other cities around the country, the pro-Kremlin local legislature has moved to squeeze out its independent mayor by voting to cancel mayoral elections and replace them with a system in which municipal deputies appoint one from a list of candidates chosen by a special commission.
This tactic has become common practice in other parts of Russia since President Vladimir Putin signed a law allowing the regions to scrap direct gubernatorial elections just a year after they were reintroduced in 2012, in what critics said at the time was a measure aimed at sidelining opposition candidates. But in Petrozavodsk, a city of about 270,000 people, this tried-and-tested technique hit something of a stumbling block a week ago when Shirshina used her right to veto changes to the city charter to shoot down the measure.
Petrozavodsk is a small, industrial city built on the shores of Lake Onezhskoye. Its main thoroughfare, Ulitsa Lenina, connects the two key points of almost every post-Soviet city center — the railway station and the local administration building. The streets of Petrozavodsk are lined with three- to five-story buildings, most of which are dated, but in good repair. The streetlights dotting the city are currently being replaced — a product of Shirshina's latest initiative.
The attempt to cancel mayoral elections was the culmination of a long-standing confrontation between Shirshina and Petrosovet, the legislative assembly of Petrozavodsk, in which most deputies belong to the United Russia faction.
In early June, Petrosovet presented Shirshina with a yearly evaluation of her work, which it declared "unsatisfactory." The lawmakers were unhappy with what they saw as dirty streets, and they felt that Shirshina's administration had mishandled the allocation of apartments to orphans, and of land to pensioners and other residents eligible for state benefits, the TASS news agency reported at the time.
That same month, Petrosovet introduced an amendment to the city charter to the Karelia parliament canceling mayoral elections in Petrozavodsk for good. The regional legislative assembly passed the law — and Shirshina deployed her veto.
"They can overturn my veto, of course," Shirshina, a slender brunette with a guileless smile, told The Moscow Times in an interview in her office last week. "They want Shirshina out. I feel that. You don't have to be a psychic to see it," she added, laughing.
It was clear just from chatting with Shirshina that she is a unique force in Russian politics. Her tone was lively and confident, and she never passed up an opportunity to tell a joke or share a laugh. She stood in stark contrast to most politicians, who tend to embrace vagueness and heavy-handed use of bureaucratic language.
Galina Shirshina / For MT
Petrozavodsk Mayor Galina Shirshina is a unique force in Russian politics.
Under local legislation, two "unsatisfactory" yearly evaluations give deputies the right to initiate the mayor's dismissal. But the media has speculated that Petrosovet plans to try to get rid of her as early as the upcoming fall. It's a textbook case of the ruling elite trying to get rid of an opposition administration head who doesn't fit into their system, observers say.
"I'm genuinely interested in how they're going to try to dismiss me in September," Shirshina said with a smile.
Dark Horse
Shirshina, 36, was an independent candidate in the 2013 election race supported by the liberal Yabloko party. At first she served as a reserve for Emilia Slabunova, Yabloko's number one choice for the race. But Slabunova, accused by the city court of numerous violations during her campaign, was eventually banned from taking part in the elections, and Shirshina had to step in.
In a surprise victory, she won 41.9 percent of the vote — 13 percent more than her main opponent, incumbent mayor Nikolai Levin of United Russia.
"It was a protest vote," Mikhail Sedykh, a political analyst, told government newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta at the time.
Sedykh said that people voted for the opposition to express their anger because Levin made too many mistakes right before the elections, such as replacing a local park with a parking lot and demolishing a historic building in the city center that had previously functioned as a children's clinic.
"I voted for her because she was not from United Russia," said Marina Molchun, a student in Petrozavodsk. "It's a good thing to have competition among candidates," she told The Moscow Times on Tuesday.
Shirshina, who moved to Petrozavodsk as a child from the neighboring Murmansk region, was an unlikely winner: She was not a politician and was therefore not well-known. She had previously taught psychology at the local university, and right before diving into the mayoral campaign, she ran a publishing house. Her only connection to politics was helping train participants in several electoral campaigns launched by Yabloko.
"I never wanted to pursue a political career. But a managerial position [like that of mayor] appealed to me," Shirshina said, adding that she had believed in her victory from the very beginning, because "there's no point in working on something you don't believe in."
Unconventional Decisions
Business as Usual in Petrozavodsk
Sergei Avishev, chairman of the Karelia Business Association, told The Moscow Times in a phone interview Wednesday that Shirshina's time in office has done little to rouse Petrozavodsk's largely sluggish business climate.
“In general, business in Petrozavodsk is suffering the same stagnation as everywhere in Russia,” he said. “A lot of companies have had to shut down and there hasn't been much development,” he added.
Though Avishev readily admitted that the mayor herself is not to blame for the state of the business sphere, he asserted that the city administration could have done more to support Petrozavodsk's entrepreneurs.
As an example, he said that though the administration has traditionally earmarked subsidies to support small- to mid-sized businesses in the area, this year's budget for that purpose — which he pegged at 2 million rubles ($33,330) — is too paltry to achieve much..
There are no new investment projects, and the number of small businesses involved in trade has decreased significantly, Avishev said, noting that a lot of business owners simply cannot afford to rent municipal spaces.
“This year, with the help of Petrosovet, we managed — albeit with great difficulty — to lower rental rates to the level [they had been at prior to the economic crisis]. But the City Hall should have come up with the initiative, not us,” Avishev said. “In some Russian cities the rates were decreased in order to keep entrepreneurs from leaving [municipal property], and to keep money coming to the budget,” he told The Moscow Times.
All in all, there appears to be a dearth of willingness on the official level to actively develop entrepreneurship in Petrozavodsk, Avishev concluded.
Shirshina's first act as mayor of Petrozavodsk — and the second story to make the national headlines following the news of her victory — was to cancel the inauguration ball.
"To be honest, at first I thought the inauguration had some sort of legal purpose. But when I found out that there was no purpose at all, except for the sake of it …" Shirshina shrugged. "Who needs it? I didn't. City residents didn't," she said.
The New Year's party for City Hall employees met the same fate: It was canceled to save budget funds.
Shirshina also opened up access to the weekly meetings of the Petrozavodsk administration to city residents.
"Not many of them actually come, because we usually hold the meetings on Monday mornings, when everyone's at work," she told The Moscow Times, adding that it has become easier in general to reach city officials since she took office.
"It's really important for me to make the residents realize that they are the masters of the city," Shirshina said.
With rumors circulating that she lived in an ordinary apartment and drove an inexpensive car, the media portrayed her as the kind of official Russians dream of: humble, not there to steal and capable of making reasonable decisions.
Her most notorious policy was to reduce the flat-rate trolleybus fare in the city from 17 rubles ($0.30) to 10 rubles ($0.18).
"We had to do something to make people start using the trolleybuses again. We had to do something to make people like them," because the transport company was on the verge of bankruptcy, she told The Moscow Times.
It wasn't the easiest decision, she admitted. "It was scary. For the first few weeks [after the move] I drove around the city looking at the trolleybuses, trying to figure out how many people were using them," she said.
According to Shirshina, the price slash helped to pull the company out of debt and away from bankruptcy, prompting more people to use the trolleybuses and pay the fare. It was popular with city residents, too.
"Of course I support her, she's the people's mayor — she let us ride the trolleys for just 10 rubles!" Piotr Filimonov, a young Petrozavodsk resident, told The Moscow Times on Wednesday.
Igor Grishin / MT
Petrozavodsk is known for the neo-classical architecture, with some of its buildings dating back centuries.
'Cheap Politics'
But it didn't last forever. At the beginning of this year — 18 months after the new fare was introduced — Petrosovet put a stop to what its chair Gennady Bondarchuk described as an experiment.
"They [Petrosovet deputies] refused to approve a [44 million ruble] subsidy from the budget we had already planned to give the company. We had the money, but they decided to use it for other purposes," said Shirshina.
Shirshina says that Petrosovet has changed a lot since Bondarchuk, a member of United Russia, became its chair in February this year. "With the arrival of the new chairman, the very ideology of Petrosovet changed," she said.
In an interview with The Moscow Times in his office, Bondarchuk said that instead of improving the transport company's finances, reducing the trolleybus fares had only driven it closer to bankruptcy.
"I didn't hear much admiration for this decision. People actually laughed at it [because it was economically unviable]," he said on Tuesday.
Bondarchuk said that the city is practically in ruins, and that it's all Shirshina's fault.
"The city is in a catastrophic condition," he said. "It's not being cleaned, it's not ready for the heating season. The municipal services are not ready to keep the streets clear [of snow] during the winter," he said, adding that the blame lies with City Hall, which he said was undergoing a serious "management crisis."
"We're going to advise the administration head [Shirshina] to stop her engagement in cheap politics and to try to get more involved in things that matter to the city," Bondarchuk added.
He claimed that Petrozavodsk residents were in support of the decision to cancel mayor elections, because they didn't want to risk having an incompetent mayor like Shirshina head the city once again.
"[Her veto on the decision] is pure sabotage," he said angrily. "Basically she vetoed the law of the Karelian republic, under which the elections are canceled. The law states that we have to change the city charter in accordance with it, so her vetoing those changes means she vetoes the law, which is absurd," he added.
Consensus No Option
"I can only laugh when they [Petrosovet deputies] say that canceling the mayor elections is about 'having to' correct the city charter in accordance with the republic's law," Shirshina said. "It was their initiative to pass this law in the republic's parliament, but now they 'have' to change the charter?" she scoffed.
'No Conflict Is Constructive'
As would be the case with almost any conflict, Shirshina's confrontation with Petrosovet is harmful to the city and contrary to the interests of its residents, said Anatoly Tsygankov, head of the Center of Sociological and Political Research, a Karelia-based think tank.
“Conflicts can at times be constructive,” he told The Moscow Times on Sunday, citing as an example: “a fight for funds between the city [administration] and the regional authorities, where each party stands to benefit."
But within the city, the analyst believes, cooperation between different branches of government is imperative.
“This conflict [between Shirshina and Petrosovet] will be extremely difficult to resolve, because it isn't purely economic or purely social — it's mostly political. The positions [of both parties] are too different and don't concur with one another, so it might be impossible to come to an agreement,” he said.
According to Tsygankov, Shirshina is more likely to back down at this point than Petrosovet because she is in a comparatively weak position. The lawmakers don't have to worry about their own elections until next year, and in the meantime they can push Shirshina out with a vote of no confidence, he said.
The timing of the latter scenario would be tough to predict, the analyst said, but in early September — when Shirshina is set to introduce a report to the deputies about her administration's progress in fulfilling the recommendations she received along with the “unsatisfactory” evaluation — Petrosovet will have a strong pretext for it.
There is no reason to deprive the people of Petrozavodsk of their right to elect a mayor, Shirshina said.
"People here are good at making choices, they're smart and educated. They know how — and like — to ask questions and engage in discussion, and they don't understand why they were denied [this opportunity] for no reason," she said.
As to the numerous problems Bondarchuk said the city was facing, Shirshina said she was perfectly aware of them and that the issues she inherited from the previous administration were not easy ones to resolve. "[That's why] I don't have time for politics — I need to prepare [the city] for the upcoming heating season, for the school season," she said.
She admitted there is much to be done: infrastructure needs modernizing, more kindergartens need to be opened, the streetlight system needs replacing and most buildings need to change their gas supply system.
But Shirshina insists she has already accomplished a lot. "We don't have any violations recorded regarding budget spending, which Petrosovet refused to believe," she told The Moscow Times. "We significantly reduced the budget deficit, too," she added.
"We do our best to open at least one new kindergarten every six months. We've started replacing the streetlight system, which was a disaster before. We've launched a whole series of large-scale cultural events [to boost tourism]," the mayor said.
Her differences with Petrosovet, she said, are rooted in their attitudes to work. "We have a very different understanding of how work should be done. … Their pretense of working hard [instead of doing real work] is sickening," Shirshina said.
"They claimed my work was unsatisfactory, when the figures in my report proved the opposite, and they were revised by our Audit Chamber before I submitted the report to Petrosovet," she said.
Petrosovet's chair Bondarchuk sees no grounds for compromise. "There's always hope that she will change and right all the wrongs within a month according to the recommendations we gave her [when she received our negative evaluation of her work]," he told The Moscow Times.
But when asked directly what specifically should be done in order to make life better in Petrozavodsk, his response was unequivocal: "The [current] mayor has to go."
Petrosovet / For MT
Gennady Bondarchuk, the chairman of Petrozavodsk’s local legislature.
The People's Mayor?
According to Bondarchuk, not only is Shirshina incompetent and unprofessional, she is also a protege of Vasily Popov, a well-known Petrozavodsk businessman who fled abroad after being charged with extortion. Bondarchuk alleged that Popov, the informal leader of the regional Yabloko party branch, was behind every step Shirshina took, in order to take advantage of budget funds.
Both Shirshina and Popov have denied the allegations. "Popov did everything in his power to make Shirshina win [the election], but I don't have any obligations to him," she was cited by the Kommersant newspaper as saying last year.
The only reason people believe her to be connected with Popov is because he helped her with a project once when she worked at the university, and it was a widely known fact, said Rudolf Kalinin, Shirshina's university professor and later colleague, the former pro-rector of the Karelia State Pedagogical University in Petrozavodsk.
"I voted for her and I would vote for her again," he told The Moscow Times on Tuesday.
"She does a lot of good for the city, repairs roads and opens new cultural and leisure spaces," he said. "But now she's cornered [by her conflict with Petrosovet]; they're not letting her use the funds or do her job," he said.
Not all the locals agree.
"I can't say I'm very pleased with her," said Alina, a Petrozavodsk resident who asked for her last name to be withheld. "How can you be pleased when the snow isn't cleared away by municipal services and makes it impossible for you to open your front door during winter?" she said.
"But then again, am I in a position to judge her? I'm sure it's hard work, being a mayor," she added.
Several other city residents polled by The Moscow Times couldn't say whether they liked their opposition mayor or not. Most of them said they hadn't noticed any difference in the city, where life goes on, no matter how high the tensions rise in city officials' headquarters.
Read the whole story
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Police in Tennessee tonight identified the suspect they are seeking in connect with the fatal shooting of a police officer during a traffic stop, and they announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.
The suspect, Tremaine Wilbourn, was wanted for the murder of a police officer and is considered armed and dangerous, according to the Shelby County Sheriff's Office.
Memphis, Tennessee, Police Officer Sean Bolton was shot several times Saturday night during what appeared to be a traffic stop, the Memphis Police Department said. Bolton, 33, was hospitalized and later died.
Bolton had been a Memphis police officer since 2010, the police said.
Earlier today, police had said that a person of interest in the case had been taken into custody, but no charges were filed and the investigation was ongoing.
Bolton is the third Memphis officer to be fatally shot in slightly more than four years. Officer Tim Warren was killed while responding to a shooting at a downtown Memphis hotel in July 2011. In December 2012, Officer Martoiya Lang was killed while serving a warrant.
Memphis Mayor A.C. Wharton Jr. said Bolton's death "speaks volumes about the inherent danger of police work" and asked others to "pray for the family and pray for our city." During past police shootings, both Wharton and Armstrong have said too many violent criminals are out on the street and have easy access to guns.
"The men and women in blue have certain rules of engagement that they have to follow, but at any given minute in a 24-hour day they're dealing with folks who have no rules of engagement," Wharton said.
TheAssociated Press contributed to this report.
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