Investigators Piece Together Portrait Of Tashfeen Malik | "La Femme Fatale" | FBI investigating San Bernardino shooting as an act of terrorism - The Washington Post | Investigators Searching for Motive in Deadly San Bernardino Shooting - ABC News - 2:15 PM 12/5/2015


Tashfeen Malik as "La Femme Fatale": Deeply deceitful, conveying the veiled hatred and rage smile, deep depression or rather sadness and regret, revengeful fanatical "devilish" determination, and above all - deep, deep, almost impenetrable mystery. It looks like a male face, with a firm male gaze. (Was she a transgender woman, with a child adopted or from surrogate mother? Does this possible circumstance convey the additional message?) It is also possible that "Tashfeen Malik" is a stolen identity.

"Безбородый мессидж"(без них обойдёмся): "Don't you worry, 'Big Heart', моё дело в шляпе. А шляпа на папе. (А папа?) 


Вести.Ru: Путин: Нина Русланова дарит зрителям тепло сердца

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12.4.15



With Few Signs Of Progress, Russia's Putin Warns Of Long Fight In Syria - NPR
Friday December 4th, 2015 at 9:14 PM

Russia - Google News
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NPR

With Few Signs Of Progress, Russia's Putin Warns Of Long Fight In Syria
NPR
Russia seems to be building up its military force in Syria, especially after Turkey shot down aRussian warplane along the Turkish-Syrian border late last month. In his State of the Nation speech on Thursday, President Vladimir Putin warned the Russian ...
Tension Increases Between Turkey-Russia Over SyriaVoice of America (blog)
Russia and Turkey Hurl Insults as Feud DeepensNew York Times
Russia and Turkey Increasingly on War FootingBreitbart News
RT -Daily Mail -The National Interest Online
all 9,347 news articles »

Turkey Sends Battalion Into Iraqby webdesk@voanews.com (Jeff Seldin)
Friday December 4th, 2015 at 9:14 PM

Voice Of America
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Turkish troops have entered Iraq, for what U.S. officials say appear to be training exercises with Iraqi anti-Islamic State forces. A Turkish official told Reuters the troops were in the Mosul Bashiqa region for “routine training exercises.” The troops crossed the border about 30 kilometers from the IS-held city of Mosul. Turkish media reported the deployment, which included tanks and other armored vehicles, was part of a regular turnover with the new Turkish troops replacing special forces that had previously been conducting training for anti-IS forces in the area.   U.S. officials confirmed the move late Friday, saying one Turkish battalion had positioned itself on the Iraqi side of the border.   “They say they're training, seems like they are,” one official told VOA on condition of anonymity.   The U.S. says the deployment is not part of coalition efforts against the Islamic State terror group, but was instead part of a Turkish-Iraqi arrangement.   Turkish officials said it had notified U.S. and other coalition countries in advance of the deployment.

IS Increasing Conscription of Children, US Military Official Saysby webdesk@voanews.com (Jeff Seldin)
Friday December 4th, 2015 at 9:12 PM

Voice Of America
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Islamic State militants may be trying to counter increased pressure from U.S.-backed ground forces and the ongoing coalition air campaign by forcing more children to join their ranks. U.S. officials have become the latest to join the chorus of voices accusing Islamic State of child conscription, saying the terror group recently sank to new lows. “We're seeing them lowering the conscription age," Colonel Pat Ryder, U.S. Central Command spokesman, said Friday. “This again is an indication that they are scraping to replace the losses that they've experienced on the battlefield.” Ryder said evidence indicates the conscripts are as young as 10 and are used in various capacities, including to fight. Children have long been featured in Islamic State propaganda, sometimes touted as “Cubs of the Caliphate.” In a recent propaganda video posted on an IS website, six children were featured carrying out the execution of prisoners. VOA could not independently confirm the authenticity of the video. U.S. military officials declined to say how many child conscripts were fighting for Islamic State. They acknowledged that the “overwhelming majority” of IS fighters are still military-aged males. But according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition group with researchers across Syria, IS recruited more than 1,100 children in 2015. Researchers with Human Rights Watch said they were also hearing reports of the increased use of child soldiers by Islamic State. They pointed to U.N. findings that most of the 480 dead Islamic State fighters found after Iraqi forces retook the town of Baiji were children or teenagers. As more Islamic State child conscripts find their way into battle zones, it could present U.S. and coalition forces with a dilemma. "It definitely is not the coalition's intent to kill innocent women or children or any innocent person on the battlefield," said CENTCOM’s Ryder. Still, he said, the presence of child conscripts would not cause U.S. bombers to call off a strike. "The reality is, if an ISIL fighter is armed and attacking, that ISIL fighter is a target, a legitimate military target," Ryder said, blaming the terror group for putting innocents in harm’s way. “This is why this organization needs to be eliminated.” This would appear to be in accordance with international law, which indicates children lose their special protected status in war if they directly engage in conflict.

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Timeline: Notable Islamist Attacks in the US
Friday December 4th, 2015 at 9:12 PM

Voice Of America
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Here's a list of the most prominent attacks on U.S. soil in which one or more people died.

Speaking to Russian Parliament, Putin Sends Five Messages to Ukraine, Romanenko Says by paul goble (noreply@blogger.com)
Friday December 4th, 2015 at 9:12 PM

Window On Eurasia -- New Series
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Paul Goble

            Staunton, December 4 – In his speech to the Russian parliament, Vladimir Putin outlined a vision for Russia’s future as a major combatant in the Middle East and “a besieged fortress” at home for a long time to come, but he also sent five key messages to Ukraine, according to Konstantin Zelfanov.

            The five messages (nr2.com.ua/News/world_and_russia/Pyat-glavnyh-vyvodov-dlya-Ukrainy-iz-poslaniya-Vladimira-Putina-112792.html), the Ukrainian commentator says, are the following:

1.      Ukraine is no longer at the center of Moscow’s attention; Syria is. For Ukrainians, Zelfanov says, “this is a good thing.”

2.      But “this does not mean that Russia has left us in peace. Instead, it means that Ukraine has a brief “breathing space.”

3.      “Putin is preparing Russians for the state of being a besieged fortress,” one in which he pledges to defend the Russian people against the arbitrary actions of officials.

4.      “Putin in practical terms acknowledged that the struggle with corruption has collapsed because he openly acknowledged that grey schemes have taken out of the budget hundreds of billions of rubles.”

5.      Putin “acknowledged that low prices for oil are a long-term trend” and that Russians will have to tighten their belts. 

Overall, Zelfanov says, Putin’s speech was a defensive one, an implicit recognition that the conflicts he has gotten Russia involved in require more resources than Russia has. That makes the next two years truly fateful ones for Russia in the first instance but also, he concludes, for Ukraine.

Pentagon Spokesman Defends Quality of Equipment Sent to Ukraine by webdesk@voanews.com (Carla Babb)
Friday December 4th, 2015 at 9:11 PM

Voice Of America
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As some 300 U.S. soldiers train Ukrainian soldiers at a compound in western Ukraine, the Pentagon is countering reports of old and dilapidated U.S. equipment being given to Ukrainian fighters in the country’s east. The Pentagon, which has committed more than $265 million in security assistance to Ukraine since the fighting began, says U.S. assistance and equipment has made an “important impact on operational effectiveness.” “We provide Ukraine with the best possible equipment, taking into account available resources and the urgency with which the items are needed,” Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis wrote to VOA on Friday. The Washington Post reported this week that a Ukrainian special forces unit near the separatist-controlled city of Donetsk was using U.S.-supplied Humvees dating from the late 1980s and early 1990s, based on serial numbers on the vehicles. Three of the Humvees had plastic doors and windows. The Post report also said “the low quality of the gear calls into question the U.S. government’s commitment to a war that is entering its second year,” a stark contrast with allegations that Russia keeps separatists in Ukraine’s east well-equipped. Davis said the “overwhelming majority” of equipment sent to Ukraine had not been previously used by U.S. forces but, because of the urgency of the situation, the U.S. did provide some unarmored vehicles from existing U.S. stock. “All of these vehicles were in working order when they were delivered to Ukraine,” according to Davis. The commander who oversees U.S. training operations in western Ukraine, Lieutenant Colonel Nick Ducich, told VOA he was not in the country during the initial equipment delivery, but understood that all equipment given to Ukrainians “is tested and ensured that it is in an operational standard before it’s shipped.” The Humvees referenced in the Post story might also have been part of the military’s standard program for transferring extra equipment where countries can take U.S. hardware “as is,” said Captain Russell Gordon, the Army public affairs officer at the International Peacekeeping and Security Center in Yavoriv. Ukrainians have received more than 30 armored Humvees, along with night-vision goggles, tactical radios and advanced radar equipment in the last few months, according to those at Yavoriv. “In talking with my Ukrainian counterparts and seeing the training here, I know that the Q48 countermortar radar and the Q36 [target acquisition radar] is being effective as far as the training aspect, and the implementation of [equipment] like the Q48 has saved Ukrainian lives,” Ducich said.

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FBI Chief Tells Americans To Keep Guard Up After California Attack by webdesk@voanews.com (VOA News)
Friday December 4th, 2015 at 9:11 PM

Voice Of America
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"If you see something, say something" is the slogan in the fight against terrorism in the United States. It is a call for citizens to immediately call police if they see anything out of the ordinary in their daily surroundings, no matter how innocent it may appear — an abandoned suitcase, an out-of-place box or a bottle of unfamiliar liquid. FBI chief James Comey said he knew how unsettling incidents like Wednesday's California massacre could be. He urged Americans on Friday not to become distracted and disabled by fear. "If you see something that doesn't make sense, you say something to somebody," he said. "When we look back over our cases over the last 10 to 15 years, in almost any case, we find that somebody saw something — whether it was a family member or friend or a co-worker — and didn't say something to law enforcement." But one expert on terrorism and extremism said the California killings gave Americans reason to be extra concerned. Both suspects, Syed Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, appeared to be a rather ordinary couple, living quietly as they raised their 6-month-old daughter. There have been no reports that either showed any aggressive or pro-extremist behavior, or talked openly about terrorism or the Islamic State group, or raised any suspicions among family, friends or co-workers. Comey said there was nothing of significance that put the killers on what he called the FBI's "radar screen." Thomas Sanderson, director of transnational threats at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Farook was "a guy who grew up in America. He may have thought that with a wife and a child he may not attract that kind of attention, and I think that's a key thing to consider here. "I think for the husband, if he is the one who led this, he would very much see a trusted wife who he recently married, probably married specifically to have someone provide backup for him ... to be a second set of eyes and ears as you prepare for and execute the attack." Sanderson said the couple could be a role model for U.S. adherents to Islamic State. "It's all theoretical, attacking inside the United States, until someone does it. And then, boom. You've got your sample, and essentially it's a proxy force for ISIS," he said, using an acronym for Islamic State. "It strikes fear in the hearts of Americans ... because this was a strike at an office and not a strike on a financial center or a strike on the Pentagon or the FBI headquarters."

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Russian Truckers, Irate Over New Tolls, Block Roads Near Moscow by By NEIL MacFARQUHAR
Friday December 4th, 2015 at 9:11 PM

NYT > Russia
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The truck drivers unhappy about new tolls and the economy are the kind of bedrock Russians for whom Vladimir V. Putin has long been a hero.

Today's Headlines and Commentaryby Elina Saxena, Cody M. Poplin
Friday December 4th, 2015 at 9:09 PM

Lawfare - Hard National Security Choices
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Tashfeen Malik, the female suspect in the San Bernardino shooting that killed fourteen people, reportedly pledged allegiance to ISIS via Facebook. Yet instead of taking directions from the group, one official suggested that authorities believe the suspects were “self-radicalized” and “inspired” by the group’s propaganda. Investigators also said that the suspects had deleted data from their electronic devices in a possible attempt to cover their tracks in planning the attack.
The FBI is treating the shooting as a counterterrorism investigation. Earlier, authorities discovered “thousands of rounds of ammunition and a dozen homemade pipe bombs in their home.” During the attacks, the two suspects shot as many as 150 bullets, and the Daily Beast writes that the shooters had left behind a remote controlled explosive device potentially designed based on plans from al Qaeda’s Inspire magazine.
Germany will provide military support to the U.S.-led coalition in the fight against the Islamic State in Syria. The New York Times writes that, in a 445 to 146 vote, “the German Parliament voted overwhelmingly on Friday to send reconnaissance planes, a frigate and midair fueling capacity to the Middle East to support the campaign against the Islamic State in Syria, although German forces will not be involved in direct combat like airstrikes.” The Associated Press has more.
After the U.K. began airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria following Wednesday’s vote,Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called on Britain to coordinate with Damascus in order to respect the sovereignty of Syria. He pointed to the U.N. Security Council Resolution 2249 which, he said “calls on all those who are able to cooperate in the fight against Islamic State on the basis of international law... and coordinate their actions.”
The Washington Post reports that the United States has killed “a mid- to high-level Islamic State figure every two days, on average,” a factor which has contributed “to President Obama’s decision to send a new Special Operations force to Iraq to intensify efforts to locate and kill militant leaders there and in Syria.” A senior official suggested that the force would undertake more raids in order to increase intelligence about the group’s movement. In considering what U.S. forces would do in the event U.S. special operators captured ISIS leaders, Defense Secretary Ash Carter suggested that captured militants could be turned over to U.S. law enforcement, Molly O’Toole writes at Defense One.
The Military Times tells us that U.S. forces have fired over 20,000 bombs and missiles since the beginning of the U.S. campaign against ISIS. The use of Hellfire missiles and bombs has depleted the Air Force’s “stocks of munitions and [has prompted] the service to scour depots around the world for more weapons and to find money to buy them.”
The Washington Post writes that the Islamic State "appears to be wrestling with money problems that could affect its ability to wage war while trying to govern millions of people in its self-declared caliphate." As U.S.-backed forces have reclaimed territory from the militant group, the Islamic State’s "lucrative spoils of war, including oil fields, properties to confiscate and captives to ransom off, have become scarcer." The New Yorker sheds light on another sounce of the group's revenue: the Islamic State’s antiquity trade.
In a video released last week, a Russian man “recruited by the Federal Security Service (FSB), the main successor agency to the KGB, and infiltrated into [ISIS] before the group’s internal ‘security service’ allegedly unmasked him” was executed by a Russian-speaking member of the group.According to the Telegraph, the Russian speaking militant issued “a direct challenge to Vladimir Putin and the Russian people." 
FSB officials said that ten Syrians connected to the Islamic State entered Thailand in October with intentions to attack Russian interests. The Guardian has more.
The Wall Street Journal writes that the “multisided war in Syria is moving into a critical phase in the province of Aleppo, as rebel groups and foreign powers, such as Iran, Russia and Turkey, try to strike a decisive blow.” Regime and allied forces have "have mobilized thousands of local and foreign Shiite fighters to capture” the city as Iranian troops have worked to cut off rebel supply lines. Aleppo, once a bustling economic hub, “reflects the tangled web of local and regional interests that are vying to control Syria’s future.”
Speaking at a news conference in Greece, Secretary of State John Kerry said that the Syrian opposition needed to be reassured that Syrian President Bashar al Assad will leave power before joining talks to reach a political solution to the conflict. He also praised the Greek response to the refugee crisis and announced that the United States will donate nearly $24 million to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees as he "urged other countries to make more contributions to the cash-strapped agency.”
Foreign Policy tells us that Russian President Vladimir Putin focused primarily on Russia’s War on Terror and fight against the Islamic State in his annual State of the Nation address. In the address, Putin also condemned Turkey over the shooting down of a Russian warplane, an incident which “highlights the entrenched differences between intervening parties in Syria.” Russia also has begun to deliver S-300 anti-aircraft defense missile systems to Iran. Russia had previously frozen the delivery in 2010, citing a U.N. sanction that was lifted this year with the July signing of the nuclear deal.
As Russia steps up its role in the Middle East, Israel has been testing “ways of defeating" advanced Russian air-defence system, including the S-300, which Moscow has deployed in the region. Israel fears these systms could limit its ability to strike Syria or Iran. Israel has held joint drills with the Greek air force, employing a Russian S-300 system on the Greek island of Crete to test how the system might be "blinded or bluffed" by nearby warplanes. Reuters has more.
In Yemen, Saudi-led coalition forces hit a Médecins Sans Frontières, or Doctors Without Borders, facility in the country’s southwest city of Taiz. MSF staff say that the coalition forces had been provided the coordinates for the hospital repeatedly and “had also contacted the coalition shortly before the attack, when airstrikes in a nearby park appeared to threaten the clinic.” Nine people were wounded in the attack which is the second Saudi-led strike on an MSF facility in Yemen in as many months.
In Tunisia, authorities arrested two suspects for their role in planning last week’s suicide attacks in the capital city which left twelve presidential guards dead. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack. Tunisia has suffered from three major militant attacks this year.
Taliban officials denied rumours that Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour was seriously wounded and possibly killed in a shootout in Pakistan, saying that they would release an audio recording of the leader to prove that he is alive. Taliban chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that the Taliban has "already put efforts into sending our men to get a voice recording of the emir himself in order to avoid the growing confusion and assure the people about his well-being.” The New York Times said that Mujahid "also tacitly acknowledged the credibility problem faced by the group, which denied for years that its previous leader, Mullah Muhammad Omar, had died, then finally admitted it two years after the fact."
A growing number of commanders and accounts have suggested that the Mansour was among those injured when a gunfight broke out at a meeting of the senior Taliban leadership in Pakistan.
In an operation on Thursday night, U.S. and Afghan special forces liberated some 40 Afghan security personnel from a Taliban prison in the Helmand province. Among the liberated prisoners were members of the Afghan National Police, Afghan National Army, and Afghan border guards.
Irek Hamidullin, a former Russian tank commander during the Soviet War in Afghanistan who later defected to the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani Network,  was sentenced to life in prison. Hamidullin led a charge against Afghan border police, firing upon supporting U.S. helicopters. His capture on the battlefield has “raised questions about whether he should be considered a prisoner of war, and prosecuted by a military tribunal instead of a civilian court.” Lawfare’s Bobby Chesney has more.
Though Pakistani officials have repeatedly downplayed the presence of the Islamic State in Pakistan,Voice of America reports that Pakistani media groups have been targeted by attackers who left ISIS related pamphlets at the scenes of their attack. Media outlets have said that the pamphlets contain “explicit threats” against them while some have asked why the Pakistani government is ignoring the threat posed by the group.
Following the release of an International Atomic Energy Agency report that highlighted the military aspects of the Iranian nuclear program, the New York Times writes that “Iran’s rulers are unwilling to give much more insight into evidence of their nuclear experimentation than they were before the historic nuclear deal was struck this summer.” The Times’s David Sanger notes that one senior IAEA official noted worries that the report would embolden other countries interested in nuclear weapons, saying “I worry we have created a poor precedent for the future” by conceding that “we have no way to force states to come clean, and we never have.”
The Department of Justice announced that the United States and China have agreed on guidelines for requesting assistance on "malicious cyber activities", Reuters writes.
China is accusing Communist Party members of “disloyalty to the Communist Party, of secretly participating in religious activities, sympathizing with the Dalai Lama or even supporting terrorist attacks,” the Washington Post tells us. The Post suggests that "the accusations form part of a hardening of the Party’s stance both in Buddhist Tibet and Muslim-majority Xinjiang" and reflect the party’s desire to crack down on “‘the three evils of separatism, terrorism and religious extremism’ in both regions." According to the Post, these moves have "not only alienated many ordinary ethnic Tibetan and Uighur people, but also provoked significant disquiet in its own ranks."
Foreign Policy sheds light on India’s restrictive policies on digital communications, highlighting the digital curfews that quell “free speech and even basic communication in a country that professes openness and digital access for all.”
Yesterday, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter announced that there would be “no exceptions” to allowing women to serve in combat jobs in the U.S. military. In the announcement, Carter made clear that women will “be allowed to drive tanks, fire mortars and lead infantry soldiers into combat. They’ll be able to serve as Army Rangers and Green Berets, Navy SEALs, Marine Corps infantry, Air Force parajumpers and everything else that was previously open only to men.”  The decision will open roughly 220,000 military jobs to women. The reaction from female members of Congress? “It’s about damn time.”
In light of the new policy, the Washington Post asks if the decision could subject women to a military draft, and explores whether the Selective Service Act will need to be updated.  
Australia passed a law giving the government the authority to strip dual citizens suspected of participating in terrorism of their Australian citizenships even if those suspects had not been formally charged with a crime. While critics have called the move unconstitutional, supporters of the decision say that it will help the government prevent those who have travelled to and been radicalized in the Middle East from returning to the country.
Parting Shot: Intervention in Syria as deja vu? Michael S. Neiberg of the U.S. Army War College writing in War on the Rocks reminds us of the debates when the United States considered intervening in Syria during World War I.
ICYMI: Yesterday, on Lawfare
Jack opined that the Obama administration only wants an AUMF for “troop morale,” and that reasoning is exactly why Congress will not pass one.
Zoe Bedell noted the irony in the fact that the British Parliament, unlike the U.S. Congress, actually debated and voted on the use of force in Syria, even though the British Prime Minister can legally deploy troops without Parliament’s approval.
Bobby shared the news that former Russian tank commander Irek Hamidullin received a life sentence for his involvement with the Haqqani Network.
Ben posted the “Slippery Slope” edition of Rational Security.
Ellen Scholl gave us the latest edition of Hot Commodities in which, among other topics, she takes a look at some of the extreme weather patterns around the world.
Herb Lin offers an approach to encryption which would distinguish between communications and other forms of data.
Email the Roundup Team noteworthy law and security-related articles to include, and follow us onTwitter and Facebook for additional commentary on these issues. Sign up to receive Lawfare in your inbox. Visit our Events Calendar to learn about upcoming national security events, and check out relevant job openings on our Job Board.
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Russia in Review - Harvard
Friday December 4th, 2015 at 8:28 PM

Belfer Center For Science And International Affairs - Latest Publications
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Media Feature
December 4, 2015
Belfer Center Programs or Projects: US-Russia Initiative to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism
Russia in Review: a digest of useful news from U.S.-Russia Initiative to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism for November 26 – December 4, 2015
I. U.S. and Russian priorities for the bilateral agenda.
Nuclear security:
  • Personnel reductions in the Russian Interior Ministry didn’t impact security of facilities that that this ministry protects, Russia’s top cop said. "Even with the personnel downsized, we are able to provide the necessary level of security of guarded facilities, which range from weapons and nuclear complex to museums and television station,"  Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev told NTV. (Belfer Center/Tass, 11.27.15).
Iran’s nuclear program and related issues:
  • The arms trade adviser to President Vladimir Putin says Russia has begun delivering S-300 air defense missile systems to Iran, according to the Russian state news agency Tass quoted Vladimir Kozhin as saying Thursday that the implementation of the contract for the delivery of the S-300s has begun and the deliveries have started. (AP, 12.03.15).
NATO-Russia relations:
  • The Pentagon's top military official initiated a phone call with his Russian counterpart Monday, the highest military-to-military communication between the two nations since August 2014.Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Gen. Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the Russian General Staff, had a "short" call that discussed a "range of issues," according to Capt. Gregory Hicks, spokesman for the Joint Chiefs. (Defense News, 11.30.15).
  • The head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization said Wednesday that the alliance was open to talks with Russia. “There is a strong message from all allies that there is no contradiction between a strong defense, deterrence and political dialogue," said Jens Stoltenberg, the NATO's secretary-general. Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that if Mr. Stoltenberg took the initiative to convene the NATO-Russia Council, Russia would meet with the alliance. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier called for resumption of the NATO-Russia communications to prevent incidents. “We live in a risky world and if there are ways through exchange of information, to reduce risks <…> then we should exploit this," Steinmeier said Tuesday night at a NATO summit. The NATO-Russia Council hasn't met since June 2014. (Wall Street Journal, Sputnik, 12.02.15).
  • In Moscow, NATO’s offer to Montenegro to join the alliance -- prompted fury and threats. Dmitri S. Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said that a NATO expansion would be met with unspecified retaliatory measures from Russia. The military of Montenegro adds just 2,000 troops to the NATO arsenal of3,508,000 and just $5 billion to the NATO pool of $892 billion. Its navy comprises five patrol boats and five landing craft. (Foreign Policy, New York Times, 12.02.15).
Missile defense:
  • No significant developments.
Nuclear arms control:
  • Frustrated by Russia’s refusal to address the Obama administration’s concerns that it has violated the INF treaty, the Pentagon is moving ahead with plans to strengthen defenses in Europe against Moscow’s military programs, including the threat posed by cruise missiles, Brian P. McKeon, a senior policy official at the U.S. Defense Department, told Congress on Tuesday. Rose Gottemoeller, the senior State Department official for arms control, told a joint meeting of the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs Committees that Russian officials had never acknowledged developing the prohibited system and instead had focused on leveling ‘‘counteraccusations.” “We continue to consider economic measures in connection with the INF Treaty, but we have not made a decision yet,” said Gottemoeller (Moscow Times, New York Times, 12.03.15).
  • The U.S. is on the “brink” of kicking off a new nuclear arms race that will elevate the risk of nuclear apocalypse to Cold War levels, former Secretary of Defense William Perry warned Thursday. “Today, probably I would not have said this 10 years ago, but today we now face the kind of dangers of a nuclear event like we had during the Cold War, an accidental war,” he said. Perry also called for the breaking of the nuclear triad by dismantling the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) stockpile. (Defense News, 12.03.15).
Counter-terrorism:
  • Police in Thailand have confirmed they are searching for Syrian terrorist suspects following a tip from Moscow. A Thai police memo was leaked earlier asking officers to follow up on information from Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) that 10 Syrians who may be linked to the Islamic State (IS) group could stage attacks in Thailand on targets associated with Russia and other foes of the militants. (RFE/RL, 12.04.15).
  • Ramzan Kadyrov, leader of Russia's Chechnya region, has vowed to kill whomever was responsible for the beheading of a Chechen man, purportedly shown on an Islamic State (IS) video. (RFE/RL, 12.03.15).
  • Former Soviet tank commander Irek Hamidullin who was convicted of leading a terror attack on U.S. forces in Afghanistan was sentenced Thursday to life in prison by a court in Richmond, Virginia. (Moscow Times, 12.04.15).
  • The bodies of six employees of the Volga-Dnepr airline killed in a terror attack on a hotel in the capital city of Mali, on Nov. 20, were brought to Ulyanovsk on Nov. 29. (Interfax, 11.29.15).
  • Also see sections on Syria and Turkey.
Cyber security:
  • Russia's largest ever data center will cost $1bn and be rigged up to a nuclear power station. Kalinin power station - 120 miles from Moscow - will provide the 80 megawatts needed to power the data center’s 10,000 server racks. (World Nuclear News,  11.27.15).
Energy exports from CIS:
  • Russia, Iran, and Iraq have quashed a plan reportedly being eyed by Saudi Arabia to lift sagging global oil prices through collective cuts in oil output. The Energy Intelligence newsletter reported that Saudi Arabia, the largest oil producer in OPEC, was ready to propose a cut of 1 million barrels a day in output at a meeting of the oil cartel on December 4, if non-OPEC countries like Russia joined in. Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak has earlier said his country will stick to its strategy of maintaining oil production and has no plans to take part in Friday’s OPEC meeting (RFE/RL, 12.04.15, Bloomberg, 12.03.15).
  • In recent months, Russian oil companies and the Saudi Arabian Oil Co., known as Saudi Aramco, have been aggressively discounting their crude to Europe. Saudi Arabia is now targeting countries like Sweden and Poland, where Russia has long been dominant and the Middle Eastern kingdom hasn't had a major presence. (Wall Street Journal, 12.01.15).
  • Alexander Novak, the Russian energy minister, announced that Moscow was halting talks with Ankara over the Turkish Stream gas pipeline, a $10 billion construction project meant to funnel Russian gas to Europe. (New York Times, 12.03.15).
  • Ten European governments -- the easternmost members of the European Union -- have complained in a letter that Russia's plans to extend its natural-gas link to Germany run counter to EU interests and risk further destabilizing Ukraine. (RFE/RL, 11.17.15).
Bilateral economic ties:
  • No significant developments.
Other bilateral issues:
  • The U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote on a bill that would authorize spending for the intelligence community for the year that ends Sept. 30, 2016. The bill would require the Director of National Intelligence to submit a report to Congress on Russia’s “use of political assassinations as a form of statecraft” since 2000. The DNI will also conduct a study that can be used to measure the damage caused by cyberattacks, in part to determine “the response to such incidents.”  (Wall Street Journal, 11.30.15).
  • Seventy-five percent of those questioned in a new poll  by Levada Center said Russia should mend ties with the United States and other Western countries. Sixteen percent disagreed, whereas another ten percent found it hard to say. (Moscow Times, 12.02.15).
  • A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department says Washington is "troubled" by Russia's banning of a pro-democracy charity fund founded by U.S. billionaire and philanthropist George Soros. (RFE/RL, 12.01.15).
  • Russian prosecutors have determined the activities of a U.S.-funded NGO to be "undesirable", paving the way for the U.S.-Russia Foundation for Economic Advancement and the Rule of Law to be banned on Russian territory. (RFE/RL, 12.04.15).
II. Russia news.
Domestic politics, economy and energy:
  • In his annual address to the parliament on Thursday Russian President Vladimir Putin detailed measures aimed at pulling Russia's economy out of a recession. “The situation is difficult but, as I've said, not critical, “Putin said. Putin issued a series of edicts. He extended an amnesty for repatriating capital flight for six more months, seeking to return desperately needed cash from abroad. He extended a benefits program for mothers for two more years. He also said that farmland that is not cultivated by its owners should be sold at auction, adding that Russia should be self-sufficient in farming by 2020. (Wall Street Journal, 12.03.15, Washington Post, 12.03.15).
  • Russia’s credit-rating outlook was raised to stable from negative by Moody’s Investors Service, which cited a stabilization of external finances and a diminished likelihood of the economy facing a further “intense shock” in the next 12 to 18 months after being sanctioned over Ukraine. (Bloomberg, 12.03.15).
  • Crude prices at $30 per barrel will push the Russian economy to depths that would threaten the nation’s financial system, according to 63 percent of respondents in a Bloomberg survey. “The situation we are in is no longer a crisis,” Deputy Finance Minister Maxim Oreshkin said at a round-table at the upper house of parliament in Moscow. “It’s a new reality, reflecting new prices for oil, a new situation with the balance of payments.” (Bloomberg, 11.29.15).
  • While October unemployment was near 2 percent in Moscow and St. Petersburg, it was almost 31 percent in the North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia. (Bloomberg, 12.03.15).
  • Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has signed a decree limiting purchases of imported medicines, according to a document published on the government's website on Wednesday. (Moscow Times, 12.02.15).
  • The reactor pressure vessel has been installed at unit 4 of the Rostov nuclear power plant in Russia. The unit is expected to start operations in 2017. (World Nuclear News, 12.01.15).
  • Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said on December 2 that the Kremlin is unaware of the latest public accusation by opposition blogger Aleksei Navalny concerning Prosecutor-General Yury Chaika and his sons. (RFE/RL, 12.02.15).
  • Forty-five percent of respondents to the survey by the independent Levada Center pollster said they supported regular rotation of leaders through elections, down from a steady 60 percent recorded a year ago and in every poll since 2007. (Moscow Times, 12.03.15).
  • Russians are more convinced than at any time in recent history that their country is a great power. Sixty-five percent of Russians surveyed by the independent Levada Center pollster said Russia was a great power, compared to 25 percent who disagreed. Four years ago, in 2011, the split was around 50-50. (Moscow Times, 11.30.15).
Defense and Aerospace:
  • Russian Airborne Forces are planning large-scale military maneuvers in the North Pole area of the Arctic next year. (RFE/RL, 11.30.15).
Security, law-enforcement and justice:
  • Russian police arrested Olga Nikonova, head of the legal department of Rosatom subsidiary TVEL for allegedly embezzling 100 million rubles when working at this nuclear fuel maker. In the meantime case of ex-deputy head of Rosatom Yevstratov - who was arrested for alleged embezzlement of 50 mn rubles back in 2010 - is yet to be heard in court. (Kommersant, 12.01.15).
  • Russian national Andrei Belyaev has been charged with treason and taken into custody pending trial. It is the 20th treason case this year that the Russian media are aware of. (Moscow Times, 12.01.15).
  • Police officials in Dagestan say that unknown attackers shot dead Imam Suleiman Kokreksky in the evening on December 1 in the city of Khasavyurt near the border with Chechnya. Kokreksky is the third imam killed in Dagestan by unknown assailants in recent months. (RFE/RL, 12.02.15).
  • Former Russian senator Sergei Pugachyov is subject to a U.K. arrest warrant for continuing to flout court orders in his dispute with the Russian Deposit Insurance Agency over the collapse of International Industrial Bank. (Bloomberg, 12.03.15).
Foreign affairs and trade:
  • Syria:
    • At a climate summit in Paris world leaders grappled with the difficulties of forging a broader international coalition to counter the threat of the violent Islamists. “On the whole, I think we have an understanding of where we need to go," Mr. Putin said at a news conference in Paris after he met with President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the summit.  (Wall Street Journal, 11.30.15).
    • Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama discussed Syria and the need for a new Syrian constitution and elections on sidelines of the climate summit in Paris. "We talked about how, in the near future, the focus of our attentions should be on a list of organizations we believe to be terroristic, and a list of organizations that represent the 'healthy' opposition,” Putin said. The two leaders also discussed implementation of the Minsk-2 agreement in Ukraine. (Sputnik, Gazeta.ru, 12.01.15).
    • A day after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the U.S. president said there are signs his Russian counterpart recognizes the Syrian conflict won't be settled through military force alone. However, Mr. Obama said the two leaders remain at odds over the future of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. (Wall Street Journal, 12.02.15).
    • The United States and Russia are drafting separate United Nations resolutions to tighten restrictions on financing sources for the Islamic State group, envoys said December 1.The proposed new Security Council measures would build on a resolution adopted in February that aimed to cut off millions of dollars in earnings from IS smuggling of oil and antiquities. (RFE/RL, 12.02.15).
    • After talks with French President François Hollande at the Kremlin last week, Putin said, "We are ready to cooperate with the coalition which is led by the United States." Putin also said the exchange of information with France and the U.S.-led coalition “was the subject of extensive negotiations" with Mr. Hollande. "Our positions are the same," Putin told Hollande talks. "That forces us to join our forces in fighting terrorists. We are prepared to work with you, Mr. President." Putin has also asked French officials to create a map indicating the location of troops in Syria fighting against the Islamic State. Hollande said France was ready to fight alongside Russia but added, "Of course, Assad cannot play any role in the future of this country." France agreed to coordinate airstrikes with Russia against IS and share information on the disposition of armed groups in Syria. Putin agreed in turn to “avoid targeting” the “healthy” armed opposition, a term he has used to refer to the Free Syrian Army. (Washington Post, Moscow Times, Wall Street Journal, 11.27.15, Institute for Study of War, 12.01.15).
    • The world powers that met in Vienna for landmark talks aimed at ending the war in Syria could meet next in New York in mid-December, diplomats here said, as long as the latest tensions between Russia and Turkey can be calmed. ''We have not seen this kind of momentum around the diplomatic and political track in a very long time, and arguably ever,'' Samantha Power, the United States ambassador to the United Nations, said of the talks. (New York Times, 12.02.15).
    • If there’s one thing the U.S. and Russia can agree on in the Syria crisis, it’s the need to cut off Islamic State’s oil trade, so they and other countries have been escalating their air attacks on it. The attacks have been increasing since the Nov. 13 terror assault in Paris. (Wall Street Journal, 12.01.15).
    • In his annual address to the parliament on Thursday Russian President Vladimir Putin repeated calls for a broad, United Nations-mandated coalition against “terrorist groups." “Terrorists in Syria pose a special threat [to Russia]. They receive money and weapons, build up their forces, and if they win there sooner or later they will come back to Russia and we will have to fight them here, he said. (Wall Street Journal, Interfax, International Business Times 12.03.15).
    • By operating in the air above Syria, Russian military pilots “are essentially directing Syrian armed units,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said. (Tass, 12.03.15).
    • Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday that Great Britain was obliged to coordinate with Damascus on its airstrikes on Islamic State targets within Syria. (Wall Street Journal, 12.03.15).
    • ''We've got a coalition of 65 countries who've been active in pushing back against ISIL for quite some time,'' Barack Obama said last week. ''Russia right now is a coalition of two -- Iran and Russia, supporting Assad.'' More than 50 members of the U.S.-led coalition  have never been directly involved in the air campaign, however. (New York Times, 11.30.15).
    • U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday he believes that if an agreement can be reached to ease President Bashar al-Assad of Syria from power, a coalition of Americans, Russians and Syrian forces could wipe out the Islamic State ''in a matter of literally months.'' (New York Times, 12.04.15).
    • U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter lamented what he said were Russia's military strikes against opposition fighters who should play a role in Syria going forward, and he criticized Moscow's support for Assad. The Russians "should be striking ISIL," Carter said. "If they got in the right place ... we could associate ourselves with what their doing." (Boston Globe, 12.02.15).
    • The White House said on Monday it has seen "some intensification" of Russian air strikes against Islamic State in Syria during the past several weeks. (Reuters, 12.01.15).
    • The advanced S-400 antiaircraft system has been deployed at a Russian military base in Syria's Latakia.  Russia is also reportedly preparing to deploy fixed-wing aircraft for the first time as well as 1,000 troops to the Assad regime’s Shayrat Airbase in Homs Province, likely in an effort to support an ongoing pro-regime offensive to recapture the IS-controlled city of Palmyra. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on December 3 that the Russians were adding fortifications and developing runways at this base in a sign they intend to use it as their second air base in the country. Russia is also reportedly deploying the TOS-1 Buratino multiple launch rocket system to Syria. (Institute for Study of War, 12.01.15, National Interest, 12.03.15, RFE/RL, 11.26.15, RFE/RL, 12.03.15).
    • For the first time since the operation's beginning Russian Su-34 bomber jets have conducted sorties in Syria with air-to-air missiles on Monday, the Russian Aerospace Forces spokesman said. (Sputnik. 11.30.15).
    • A Russian jet recently penetrated Israeli airspace but was not shot down thanks to an open communication system between the two countries, Israel's defense minister said Sunday. (AP, 11.29.15).
    • According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Russian air strikes in a northern Syrian town are reported to have killed at least 18 people and wounded dozens more. (RFE/RL, 11.29.15).
    • A recent nation-wide poll conducted in Russia by the Levada Center showed that 53% of Russians would react negatively if Russia were to launch a ground military operation in Syria. (Levada Center/Belfer Center, 12.02.15).
    • Ethnic Chechen Salahuddin Shishani has been removed as emir of Caucasus Emirate in Syria. (<a href="http://Chechensinsyria.com" rel="nofollow">Chechensinsyria.com</a>, 12.03.15).
    • A court in Russia's North Caucasus has sentenced six men to up to seven years in jail for recruiting fighters for the Islamic State extremist organization in Syria. (RFE/RL, 12.01.15).
    • On Wednesday the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned four individuals and six entities providing support to the Syrian regime. They include Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, whom Treasury describes as a "wealthy Russian businessman" and "long-time World Chess Federation president." (Wall Street Journal, 11.27.15).
  • Turkey:
    • In his annual address to the parliament on Thursday Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia “won't rattle its sabers" in the conflict with Turkey, but could add to sanctions. “If they think that after committing heinous war crimes and murdering our people they will get away just with tomatoes and restrictions on construction and other industries, they are deeply mistaken,” Putin said. “Only Allah knows why they did that. Apparently Allah decided to punish Turkey's leadership by depriving them of senses and mind," Mr. Putin said . Putin has earlier said that “we have every reason to think that the decision to shoot down our plane was dictated by the desire to protect the oil supply lines to Turkish territory.”  (Wall Street Journal, 12.03.15, RFE/RL, 11.30.15).
    • Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree completing an array of sanctions against Turkey in response to the downing of a Russian bomber on the Syrian border, including imports of certain products. It also restricts “certain types of work" or services rendered on Russian territory by Turkish organizations. Although Russia has said it would also ban fruits and vegetables from Turkey, it will wait several weeks to enforce the sanctions to avoid creating sudden shortages that could fuel inflation. The Kremlin has also ordered the Russian government to ban charter flights between Russia and Turkey and tighten control on Turkish trucking companies on Russian territory. The government also said Russian authorities should play closer attention to vessels operating in Russian ports. And Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has announced that Russia would cancel a free-visa regime with Turkey.  (Wall Street Journal, 11.29.15, Washington Post, 11.29.15, New York Times, 12.01.15).
    • Turkey is the main consumer of Islamic State’s oil and Russia has proof that “the highest political leadership of the country, President Erdogan and his family, are involved in this criminal business,” Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said. In his annual address to the parliament on Thursday Russian President Vladimir Putin said that "We know, for example, that Turkey is stuffing its pockets and letting terrorists make money on selling oil plundered in Syria.” Erdogan shot back at Russian accusations, saying that “nobody has the right to slander Turkey” by claiming it buys oil from the Islamic State.(Foreign Policy, 12.02.15, Interfax,12.03.15).
    • Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he had heard "nothing new" from his Turkish counterpart on Thursday after the first high-level bilateral contact between the two countries since the Turkish air force shot down a Russian jet nine days ago. (Today’s Zaman, 12.03.15).
    • Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Ankara made first attempts to get in touch with Moscow only seven or eight hours after the Turkish Air Force shot down a Russian bomber in Syria, which seemed "an eternity" to Russia. (Interfax, 11.28.15).
    • Kremlin foreign-policy adviser Yuri Ushakov confirmed on Friday that Mr. Putin had received the requests Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to meet. Asked why Russia hadn't responded, Mr. Ushakov suggested the Kremlin was waiting to see contrition from the Turkish leadership. “We see a lack of readiness from the Turkish side to offer an elementary apology for the incident with the aircraft," Mr. Ushakov said. (Wall Street Journal, 11.27.15).
    • Speaking after meeting with the secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Monday that Turkey won't apologize for shooting down a Russian jet fighter last week. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has expressed “sadness" numerous times, but refusing to apologize. . (Wall Street Journal, 11.30.15).
    • The body of a Russian pilot who died after his warplane was shot down along the Turkey-Syria border has been flown back to Russia and buried in Lipetsk. (CNN, 11.30.15, Gazeta.ru, 12.03.15).
    • U.S. President Barack Obama urged Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday to decrease tensions with Turkey. The U.S. State Department said Monday that the Russian jet shot downed by Turkey last week had violated Ankara’s airspace. The administration pointedly didn’t say, however, that Ankara was justified in shooting down the Russian Su-24. Earlier, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Moscow has said that the downing of a Russian jet is not in violation of a safety memorandum agreed to by the U.S. and Russia last month. “It does not apply to or limit the right of Turkey to defend its sovereign airspace in accordance with international law,” he said. (RFE/RL, 11.30.15, Moscow Times, 11.26.15, AP, 11.30.15).
    • NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg backed Turkey's right to defend its territory in reference to the downing of the Russian bomber, but repeated his calls for calm and dialogue between Russia and Turkey. (Wall Street Journal, 11.30.15).
  • Other countries:
    • In his annual address to the parliament on Thursday Russian President Vladimir Putin said: “I propose holding consultations, in conjunction with our colleagues from the Eurasian Economic Union, with the SCO and ASEAN members, as well as with the states that are about to join the SCO, with the view of potentially forming an economic partnership. “ (Kremlin.ru, 12.04.15).
    • The European Council meeting on December 18 may extend sanctions against Russia for another six months, a European diplomatic source said. (Interfax, 11.30.15).
    • A recent exercise between U.S. and Indian forces might just underscore the need for Washington to speed up the replacement of older submarines. The Indian media is claiming that one of New Delhi’s Russian-built Kilo-class diesel-electric attack submarines managed to “sink” a nuclear-powered U.S. Navy Los Angeles-class attack submarine during exercises in October. (NI, 12.01.15).
    • Rolls-Royce plans to help Rosatom avoid falling foul of regulators by sharing the lessons it has learned from producing instrumentation and control systems for the nuclear power industry. (World Nuclear News, 12.01.15).
Russia's neighbors:
  • Ukraine:
    • In a one-hour speech to a joint session of the Russian parliament, Vladimir Putin did not utter the word "Ukraine" once. (RFE/RL, 12.04.15).
    • U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will address Ukraine's parliament next week during a visit. U.S. officials say is aimed at showing Ukraine -- and Russia -- Washington’s continued support for Kyiv. The December 8 speech will be preceded by talks with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, officials said (RFE/RL, 12.02.15).
    • NATO's supreme commander, Gen. Philip Breedlove, said on Wednesday that there was little chance that Russia would meet a year-end deadline for a peace deal in eastern Ukraine, saying the calmer situation there did not mean the end of the conflict was near. (New York Times, 12.02.15).
    • Russia laid out a long list of demands for amending a sweeping trade deal between Ukraine and the European Union a month before the pact is due to be fully implemented. The new demands came at a fresh round of discussions with Moscow aimed at mitigating Russian concerns about the deal. But with no breakthrough in Tuesday's talks, hopes are fading that a compromise can be found. In a bid to resolve the dispute, Berlin has proposed a joint declaration between the EU and Russia offering Moscow the prospect of long-sought investment and energy concessions to create a more integrated economic area from the Atlantic to the Pacific. (Financial Times, 12.01.15, Wall Street Journal, 12.02.15).
    • Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says his government will spend five percent of gross domestic product on defense and security next year, in a bid to strengthen the army in its fight against pro-Russian separatists in the east. (RFE/RL, 12.02.15).
    • Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has pardoned Russian citizen Vladimir Starkov arrested in eastern Ukraine and exchanged him for Ukrainian serviceman Andriy Hrechanov held by Russia-backed separatists. (RFE/RL, 12.01.15).
    • Ukraine's energy minister has told the parliament in Kyiv that Russia has begun to restrict coal supplies to Ukraine, days after the Kremlin threatened to punish Kyiv for a power blackout of Russian-annexed Crimea. (RFE/RL, 11.27.15).
    • Ukraine’s Energy Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn say some electricity deliveries to Crimea can be resumed but that the timing must be agreed with Crimean Tatar activists who are conducting protests along the transmission lines in Ukraine's Kherson region. (RFE/RL, 11.30.15).
    • A nongovernmental group of international election monitors says delayed local elections on November 29 were conducted in accordance with laws and regulations in the eastern Ukrainian cities of Mariupol and Krasnoarmiisk. (RFE/RL, 11.29.15).
    • Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has taken part in ceremonies to commemorate the millions who died of famine under Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. (RFE/RL, 11.29.15).
    • This week, the World Health Organization is sending a blunt message to Ukraine: declare a state of emergency. The reason: two children in Southwestern Ukraine were diagnosed with polio in September. (NPR, 12.03.15).
    • The United States has delivered more than $260 million in non-lethal military equipment to Ukraine, but some of the U.S.-supplied gear is little more than junk. One Ukrainian special forces unit is using U.S.-supplied Humvees dating from the late 1980s and early 1990s. The tires on one of the trucks blew apart after driving only a few hundred kilometers. The cost to purchase a Humvee tire in Ukraine is roughly $1,000, so instead one Ukrainian unit bought a cheap used SUV for a little more than what it would take to replace two Humvee tires. (Wall Street Journal, 11.30.15).
  • Other neighbors:
    • Tajikistan has extradited two Kyrgyz nationals to Kyrgyzstan, where they face charges of recruiting for the Islamic State militant group in Syria and Iraq. (RFE/RL, 11.30.15).
    • Kyrgyz officials say well-known theologian Kadyr Malikov has been attacked by supporters of the Islamic State extremist organization. (RFE/RL, 11.30.15).
    • Seven residents of Tajikistan's southwestern Shahrtuz district have been jailed for raising the Islamic State extremist organization's flag in a public place. (RFE/RL, 12.04.15).
    • Mihra Rittmann, a Human Rights Watch researcher and office director in Bishkek who was banned this week from reentering the country has described the move as "interference" into the global rights watchdog's activities. (RFE/RL, 12.04.15).
    • In Moldova's breakaway region of Transdniester, the ruling Obnovlenie (Renovation) party appears to have won a landslide victory in general elections that were held on November 29. (RFE/RL, 11.29.15).
    • The Moldovan police said Thursday that they had detained 13 people suspected of being members of a paramilitary group accused of planning to attack the capital, Chisinau, and Balti, a northern city with a largely Russian population, with the aim of creating a separatist republic similar to the one in eastern Ukraine. (AP, 11.27.15).
    • Separatist officials of Nagorno-Karabakh say one soldier of the unrecognized territory was killed in the latest clashes with Azerbaijani armed forces. The breakaway region's Defense Ministry said that the soldier was killed when "Nagorno-Karabakh armed forces fought with Azerbaijan's sabotage and reconnaissance group that tried to cross the border" early on December 4.(RFE/RL, 12.04.15).
    • Village elders from the Nardaran settlement on the outskirts of Baku have called for talks with the authorities a day after a police raid in their community turned violent. Azerbaijan’s Interior Ministry says two police officers and four suspected militants were killed during a raid on a "criminal gang" that was planning terrorist attacks in the country. (RFE/RL, 11.27.15).
    • Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili has stripped former President Mikheil Saakashvili of his Georgian citizenship. (RFE/RL, 12.04.15).
Back issues of Russia in Review are available here. If you wish to either unsubscribe from or subscribe to Russia in Review, please e-mail Simon Saradzhyan atsimon_saradzhyan@hks.harvard.edu.
For more information about this publication please contact the The US-Russia Initiative to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism at 617-496-0518.
For Academic Citation:
"Russia in Review.", December 4, 2015.
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Western Powers Reportedly Buying IS Oil, While Bombing Oil Facilities by webdesk@voanews.com (Jamie Dettmer)
Friday December 4th, 2015 at 2:02 PM

Voice Of America
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The U.S.-led coalition is determined to disrupt the Islamic State group's oil trade, which earns Islamic State (IS) an estimated $10 million a week. But while the West is bombing oil trucks and facilities, Western countries also are  indirectly buying the jihadists’ oil, admit Western diplomats. Hours after Britain's House of Commons Wednesday approved a request by Prime Minister David Cameron to expand his country’s bombing campaign against the Islamic State to include targets in Syria, British warplanes struck at oil facilities controlled by the jihadists. Fifty-six kilometers inside Syria's eastern border with Iraq, four British Tornado jets struck facilities in the Omar oilfield that help finance IS. Syrian monitoring groups say that other oil-related targets were struck by coalition warplanes this week. The coalition has prioritized oil-related facilities and infrastructure as targets.  It has avoided destroying oil fields themselves, however, fearing it would make the reconstruction of Syria after the war more difficult. Additionally, there are  worries that bombing oilfields would create an environmental hazard. In the past year, a coalition tally shows it has hit 260 oil-related targets. Britain's defense minister, Michael Fallon, said the airstrikes are dealing a “very real blow at the oil and the revenue” on which IS depends. Buying IS oil The four-year multi-layered and highly complex conflict, though, has its twists and turns.  Among them is the fact that Western governments are also helping to indirectly fund IS. The West provides money to rebel militias and local groups inside rebel-controlled northern Syria who buy the oil they need from middlemen acting for IS.   “Most organizations are not sending fuel inside Syria; they are sending money. And guess who they are buying the fuel from?” asks Bassam al-Kuwaiti, a political activist based in southern Turkey who works closely with foreign and local non-profits, international relief organizations and for-profit development groups funded by the U.S. government and other Western powers.   “So are we serving the objective here?" he added. "But everybody is closing their eyes. Send fuel from here.” Several U.S. and European officials confirmed to VOA that oil is being bought from IS by Western-backed rebel militias, Syrian NGOs and the local councils that have emerged in insurgent-held areas in northern Syria. None was prepared to speak on the record. International non-profits and for-profits would also prefer to overlook the oil purchases. "Do not write about this trade,” a senior German aid worker told VOA. “Don’t you dare.  Relief groups inside need to do this to operate,” he said. Western government officials and relief organizations argue there would be major logistical problems transporting oil into Syria from Turkey, especially with so many countries mounting airstrikes. Without oil and fuel, the rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad would collapse. Oil blockade In July, IS did impose a brief oil blockade on rebel-held northern Syria after it lost control of Tal Abyad, a key Syrian town on the Turkish border, to mainly Kurdish fighters.   While launching an offensive to the west of Tal Abyad on another border town, Azaz, IS ordered traders to stop trucking diesel and refined oil into rebel-held areas in northern Syria on threat of being beheaded. The blockade affected more than just rebel fighters. The interdiction of fuel deepened the humanitarian crisis in northern Syria, disrupting everything from agriculture to medical clinics, which run on generators donated by Western countries. Bakeries, water supplies and aid deliveries were also badly impacted. IS controls more than 10 oil fields in territory it holds. Revenue from trading in black gold helps the terror group run its claimed caliphate as well as a global terror network. The oil is sold to traders who then transport it to makeshift refineries or sell it on to smugglers for transport into Turkey. Selling to Assad Ironically, the Assad regime also has to buy IS oil to keep its war machine going. Western and Iraqi officials were given a good rundown on the terror group’s oil trading with the Assad regime back in June 2014 when IS computers and databases were seized by Iraqi intelligence officers from the Mosul home of jihadist commander Abdulrahman al-Bilawi. The raid was conducted a few days before jihadists overran the northwestern Iraqi city. The breakdown of the group’s financial resources shocked even senior Iraqi officials, who say the seized databases revealed IS was receiving cash not only from oil trafficking but also from selling to overseas traders, other Syrian insurgent groups and the Assad regime.

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What makes a ‘mass shooting’ in America
Friday December 4th, 2015 at 1:17 PM

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In 2013, users of the social network Reddit began tracking mass shootings in the United States. The effort began at the Guns Are Cool subreddit, an ironically named group of gun control proponents, that shared articles about shootings in the United States. Brock Weller, a cook in Oregon who was involved in the early evolution of the Tracker, told the online news organization The Trace earlier this year that he became interested in the subject of gun violence after he was held at gunpoint by a man wielding a shotgun in 2008.
Since then, the crowd-sourced Mass Shooting Tracker has become a near-daily source of information about shootings in the United States. It's a crowd-sourced list of all shooting incidents in which four or more people are killed or injured by gunfire, culled mainly from media reports. Reddit users submit mass shooting incidents on the subreddit's page, which then feeds the standalone Tracker website.
mass_shootings
As the nation has endured several years of prominent shootings, most recently in San Bernardino, Calif., on Wednesday, the tracker has become a source of data for stories on Wonkblog, including the widely shared calendar to the right, a front-page story in today's New York Times, a top column in the Los Angeles Times, and other media. But it also raised a question about what we define as a mass shooting in the United States — particularly how many people must be harmed or killed — and the differences between regular shootings, mass shootings, mass killings and massacres.
Given that the numbers on the Mass Shooting Tracker come from a mostly anonymous group of pro-gun-control Reddit users, some have asked whether their numbers are biased. The tracker's contributors say that they have been careful when documenting their sources. Each incident in the database is accompanied by at least one link to a local media story reporting on the details of the shooting. They invite users of the data to check their work and report back any problems they find.
And they've been responsive to criticism, too. When gun-rights proponents pointed out that there were two instances of pellet gun shootings in the database, the moderators promptly removed them.
But there's no question that it uses a broader definition than what has been previously understood. For starters, it's important to realize that there has never been one universally accepted definition of a “mass shooting.” The government has never even defined "mass shooting" as a stand-alone category.
The FBI used to consider someone a "mass murderer" if they killed four or more people during one event, regardless of weapons used. But starting in 2013, federal statutes defined "mass killing" as three or more people killed, regardless of weapons. And unlike the tracker, the tally doesn't include the killer if he or she is eventually killed by law enforcement or takes his or her own life.
But, according to the tracker's users, that definition has a bit of a problem. It includes non-gun killings, for instance, and it excludes cases in which a lot of people are shot but few of them die.
Earlier this year, a gunman killed two people and wounded nine others during a shooting at a theater in Lafayette, La. Because only two people died, not including the gunman, that incident wouldn't meet the federal definition of a "mass killing" — even though it garnered widespread media attention.
The redditors who started the tracker deliberately wanted to use a broader definition that would capture instances similar to the Lafayette shooting, as well as other multiple-casualty events. So they settled on the definition of four or more people killed or injured.
Some observers, such as independent researcher and gun-rights proponent John Lott, object to the tracker's methodology, because it counts “a lot of shootings where people aren’t killed, criminal gangs are involved, and cases take place out of public view.” He argues that gang violence and domestic violence spring from different causes than instances in the Colorado Springs, Colo., or San Bernardino shootings, and that they should be considered separately.
“The causes and solutions to drug gang violence are dramatically different than for the vast majority of mass public shootings, where attacks are designed to kill or wound as many people as possible,” Lott said in a post on the Crime Research Prevention Center website earlier this year. “Padding the numbers by lumping the two together doesn’t make much sense.”
Others argue that the use of the tracker's data sends a misleading signal to the public. “Fear is running rampant,” criminologist James Alan Fox of Northeastern University said in an email. “The source of the panic rests squarely with the way in which media outlets cover these tragedies, and in this case, the Mass Shooting Tracker that is attracting so much ink.”
“I’m not saying four-plus injured isn’t important,” he added. “But it is certainly not as serious as four-plus killed, or three-plus killed, or even two-plus killed (as in Roanoke). The problem is that we then are dealing with two variables: number of victims and type of victimization.”
But the people running the tracker consider their approach a feature, not a bug. If we're looking to wrap our heads around the totality of gratuitous gun violence in this country, the argument goes, it makes sense to consider the many instances of this type of violence that happen behind closed doors or within regions plagued by gun violence. A life lost is a life lost, whether that person lived in the South Side of Chicago or suburban Colorado Springs.
The tracker uses the same definition of mass shooting as the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit organization that tracks firearm injuries and deaths across all categories in the United States, but with one crucial distinction: The tracker includes the attackers in its death tallies if the incident ends in the attacker's death.
“Just because someone commits suicide by cop doesn’t mean that the bystanders weren’t subjected to an act of violence,” one of the tracker's founders told The Trace last month, “or that the cop who pulled the trigger to end the incident won’t have to deal with the psychological ramifications of killing another human being.”
Other researchers have also been including domestic violence and gang-related shootings as mass shootings for years. Harvard University's David Hemenway said he considers public shootings, domestic violence and gang violence as the three main categories of “mass shooting.” He said that in many cases, it makes sense to consider them all together.
Regardless of the cause, “four people are still dead,” he said in an interview.
Still, it can be useful to separate the three subcategories. “Last year, overall mass shootings weren't increasing that much,” he said. But, “the more public ones were increasing. Those look like they're ‘contagious’ much more than the intimate partner violence ones.”
Jim Bueermann, a former police chief in Redlands, Calif. — the city where the San Bernardino suspects lived — said it doesn't make much sense to distinguish for this purpose between an injury and a death.
“I would submit that sometimes the only difference between a shooting and a murder could be a centimeter, an inch, an unlikely ricochet, whatever,” Bueermann, who now is president of the Police Foundation, a kind of think tank for research into effective law enforcement practices, said in an interview. “If we're trying to capture true gun violence in our country, a broader definition [of mass shooting] is probably more useful than a narrow one.”
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» 3,945,0593,945,0592015-12-04M.N.: "I do not see how gun control can prevent mass shootings if
05/12/15 07:31 from Mike Nova - Google+
3,945,059 3,945,059 2015-12-04 M.N.: "I do not see how gun control can prevent mass shootings if they were designed and planned on purpose. Guns can always be bought or supplied illegally, and in some cases they were. Is President in den...
» With Few Signs Of Progress, Russia's Putin Warns Of Long Fight In Syria - NPR
04/12/15 21:14 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Russia - Google News. NPR With Few Signs Of Progress, Russia's Putin Warns Of Long Fight In Syria NPR Russia seems to be building up its military force in Syria, especially after Turkey shot down a Russian...
» Turkey Sends Battalion Into Iraq
04/12/15 21:14 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Voice of America. Turkish troops have entered Iraq, for what U.S. officials say appear to be training exercises with Iraqi anti-Islamic State forces. A Turkish official told Reuters the troops were in the ...
» IS Increasing Conscription of Children, US Military Official Says
04/12/15 21:12 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Voice of America. Islamic State militants may be trying to counter increased pressure from U.S.-backed ground forces and the ongoing coalition air campaign by forcing more children to join their ranks. U.S...
» Timeline: Notable Islamist Attacks in the US
04/12/15 21:12 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Voice of America. Here's a list of the most prominent attacks on U.S. soil in which one or more people died.
» Speaking to Russian Parliament, Putin Sends Five Messages to Ukraine, Romanenko Says
04/12/15 21:12 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Window on Eurasia -- New Series. Paul Goble             Staunton, December 4 – In his speech to the Russian parliament, Vladimir Putin outlined a visi...
» Pentagon Spokesman Defends Quality of Equipment Sent to Ukraine
04/12/15 21:11 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Voice of America. As some 300 U.S. soldiers train Ukrainian soldiers at a compound in western Ukraine, the Pentagon is countering reports of old and dilapidated U.S. equipment being given to Ukrainian figh...
» FBI Chief Tells Americans To Keep Guard Up After California Attack
04/12/15 21:11 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Voice of America. "If you see something, say something" is the slogan in the fight against terrorism in the United States. It is a call for citizens to immediately call police if they see anything out of t...
» Russian Truckers, Irate Over New Tolls, Block Roads Near Moscow
04/12/15 21:11 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from NYT > Russia. The truck drivers unhappy about about new tolls and the economy are the kind of bedrock Russians for whom Vladimir V. Putin has long been a hero.
» Today's Headlines and Commentary
04/12/15 21:09 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Lawfare - Hard National Security Choices. Tashfeen Malik, the female suspect in the San Bernardino shooting that killed fourteen people, reportedly pledged allegiance to ISIS via Facebook. Yet instead of t...
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mikenova shared this story from Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs - Latest Publications. Media Feature December 4, 2015 Belfer Center Programs or Projects : US-Russia Initiative to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism Russia in Re...
» Western Powers Reportedly Buying IS Oil, While Bombing Oil Facilities
04/12/15 14:02 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Voice of America. The U.S.-led coalition is determined to disrupt the Islamic State group's oil trade, which earns Islamic State (IS) an estimated $10 million a week. But while the West is bombing oil truc...
» What makes a ‘mass shooting’ in America
04/12/15 13:17 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story . The inside track on Washington politics. Be the first to know about new stories from PowerPost. Sign up to follow, and we’ll e-mail you free updates as they’re published. You’ll receive free...
» News Roundup and Notes: December 4, 2015
04/12/15 11:34 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Just Security. Nadia O'Mara 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. SAN BERNARDINO SHOOTING The FB...
» Совещание с постоянными членами Совета Безопасности • Президент России
04/12/15 10:20 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
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» 2015-12-03Erdogan: Ankara Has Proof Of Russian Involvement In IS Oil Trade
03/12/15 13:30 from Mike Nova - Google+
2015-12-03 Erdogan: Ankara Has Proof Of Russian Involvement In IS Oil Trade | Turkey dismisses 'Soviet propaganda', says trying to secure Syria border | Reuters | Suspects dead, motive sought after 14 killed in California - Yahoo News | ...
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02/12/15 17:32 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Bloomberg View. President Vladimir Putin is so angry with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey that he won't talk to him on the phone or meet with him at the United Nations climate talks in Paris....
» Today's Headlines and Commentary - Lawfare
02/12/15 17:04 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Lawfare. The Pentagon intends to deploy “a targeting force of elite U.S. special operations troops into northern Iraq” in order to gather intelligence and target ISIS leaders , the Daily B...
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» san bernardino shooting - Google Search
02/12/15 16:40 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story . San Bernardino Shooting : Reports of Up to 12 Dead at Center for ... ABC News - 1 hour ago There were reports of up to 12 people dead in a shooting Wednesday in San Bernardino , California, when multiple shoo...
» Israel extremely nervous over Russian operations on its Golan border
02/12/15 12:51 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story . On the outside, Israel is all smiles and full of praise for way the coordination with Moscow is working for averting clashes between its air force and Russian warplanes over Syria. This goodwill was conspicuo...
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» Russian defense ministry unveils 'Turkey's oil trade with ISIS'
02/12/15 10:17 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story . Russian defense ministry unveils 'Turkey's oil trade with ISIS' DEBKA file December 2, 2015, 4:10 PM (IDT) Russia's defense ministry on Wednesday presented what it claimed was proof that Turkey is actively pa...
» Ex-US Intelligence Chief on Islamic State's Rise: 'We Were Too Dumb'
02/12/15 09:43 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from SPIEGEL ONLINE - International. Without the Iraq war, Islamic State wouldn't exist today, former US special forces chief Mike Flynn openly admits. In an interview, he explains IS' rise to become a professi...
» Carter: More US special ops headed to Iraq - Middle East
02/12/15 09:03 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Stars and Stripes News (Extended). WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Tuesday that the United States will send expeditionary military personnel into battle with Iraqi and Kurdish forces a...
» 3,933,2073,933,2072015-12-02US Sending New Special Ops Force to Iraq to Fight IS - ABC News
02/12/15 08:32 from Mike Nova - Google+
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» 3,929,2613,929,2612015-12-01What the Russo-Turkish incident could mean for Russia - Le Monde
01/12/15 15:53 from Mike Nova - Google+
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01/12/15 12:08 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story . Президент России Владимир Путин п&...
» Russia, Israel To Broaden Defense Coordination in Syria - DefenseNews.com
01/12/15 12:04 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Russia - Google News. DefenseNews.com Russia , Israel To Broaden Defense Coordination in Syria DefenseNews.com TEL AVIV — Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on M...
» Turkey challenges Russia over IS oil trade claim
01/12/15 09:28 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from BBC News - Home. Turkey has challenged Russia to prove its claim that Ankara shot down a Russian plane in order to protect its oil trade with Islamic State (IS). "If you allege something you should prove i...
» Заявление для прессы и ответы на вопросы журналистов • Президент России
01/12/15 09:21 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
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» News Roundup and Notes: December 1, 2015
01/12/15 09:11 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Just Security. 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 T...
» News Roundup and Notes: November 30, 2015
01/12/15 09:10 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Just Security. 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 W...
» Is Syria the beginning of the end of Putinism?
01/12/15 08:55 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story . The inside track on Washington politics. Be the first to know about new stories from PowerPost. Sign up to follow, and we’ll e-mail you free updates as they’re published. You’ll receive free...
» What the Russo-Turkish incident could mean for Russia - Le Monde diplomatique
01/12/15 08:53 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Le Monde diplomatique - English edition. The immediate fall-out of Turkey’s shooting of a Russian fighter jet may ultimately remain limited. Perhaps, neither Moscow nor Ankara will substantively modi...
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» 2015-11-30Intelligence: America Does Poorly In Cold War II - 8:13 AM 11/30/2015
30/11/15 10:42 from Mike Nova - Google+
2015-11-30 Intelligence: America Does Poorly In Cold War II - 8:13 AM 11/30/2015 Predatory Islamic State Wrings Money From Those It Rules - NYTimes.com A Coalition in Which Some Do More Than Others to Fight ISIS - NYTimes.com Intelligenc...
» 3,925,6673,925,667
30/11/15 02:11 from Mike Nova - Google+
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» 2015-11-29ISIS’ Grip on Libyan City Gives It a Fallback Option - NYTimes.com
29/11/15 13:40 from Mike Nova - Google+
2015-11-29 ISIS’ Grip on Libyan City Gives It a Fallback Option - NYTimes.com | Pennsylvania police officer killed; suspect in custody - CNN.com - 11:26 AM 11/29/2015 Gay rights activists march in New Delhi parade :  Hundreds of gay righ...
» Митинг врачей в Москве
29/11/15 13:20 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from SvobodaRadio's YouTube Videos. From: SvobodaRadio Duration: 02:21 Власти Москвы продолжают политику "оптимизации системы здравоохранения" и отчитываются о её эффективности. 29 ноября медицинские работн...
» Explainer: Climate Change And the View From Moscow
29/11/15 13:20 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. With a key UN conference on climate change starting in Paris, RFE/RL takes a closer look at the huge environmental challenges facing Russia in the coming decades.
» At least 18 people killed in Russian airstrike on town in Syria – reports - The Guardian
29/11/15 13:19 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Russia - Google News. The Guardian At least 18 people killed in Russian airstrike on town in Syria – reports The Guardian News of the bombing came as the body of the pilot killed when Turkey shot down a Ru...
» Afghanistan, Pakistan Leaders to Hold Icebreaking Talks in Paris
29/11/15 13:19 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Voice of America. Leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan are expected to hold an “icebreaking” meeting on the margins of the U.N. climate change summit that starts Monday in Paris. Pakistani officials and a g...
» Президент Украины прибыл во Францию - РИА Новости
29/11/15 13:18 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from В мире – Новости Google. РИА Новости Президент Украины прибыл во Францию РИА Новости Петр Порошенко примет участие в открытии 21-1 Конференции сторон Рамочной Конвенции ООН по изменению климата, проведет р...
» Neuroscience in Crosshair of Weapons Training
29/11/15 13:18 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Defense News - Home. Trainees using one of the leading brands of EST could soon add headbands to the equipment they use to learn personal weapon skills: headbands that read brainwaves.      ...
» Security forces in Dagestan kill three ISIS terrorists, Moscow says
29/11/15 13:17 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from DEBKAFile. November 29, 2015, 5:10 PM (IDT) Three terrorists who joined ISIS, including one who recently came back from Syria, were killed in the republic of Dagestan by Russian security forces after they ...
» Commander of 'Israel's FBI' named as latest cop at center of sexual harassment ... - Jerusalem Post Israel News
29/11/15 13:15 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from fbi - Google News. Commander of 'Israel's FBI ' named as latest cop at center of sexual harassment ... Jerusalem Post Israel News The commander of LAHAV 433 –widely-referred to as “Israel's FBI ” – is the ...
» Syria is to Turkey what Ukraine is to Russia
29/11/15 13:14 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Stars and Stripes. The smart thing for Russia to do now would be to recognize that it misjudged Turkish sensitivities, and adjust accordingly.
» Sex and drugs on the road to jihad
29/11/15 13:14 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Stars and Stripes. There is a paradox to the recent terrorist attacks in Paris. As it claimed responsibility for them, the Islamic State group said they were meant as a strike against European depravity. Y...
» Arab analysts concerned over escalating tensions after Russian jet downed
29/11/15 13:14 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Stars and Stripes News. Turkey’s downing of a Russian jet along the Syrian-Turkish border has alarmed America’s Arab allies, who fear another such incident could lead to a “very hot response” by Moscow tha...
» Israel Outlines Unmanned Systems Plans
29/11/15 13:13 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Defense News - Home. Israel’s Defense Ministry is eyeing new autonomous operating concepts and a variety of unmanned air, ground and sea systems             
» AP Interview: Iraqi envoy: Paris attack marks new global war
29/11/15 13:12 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World. Iraq’s foreign minister says the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris marked a new stage in a world war of international terrorism — one that no country can hope to escape.
» Israel defense minister says Russian plane breached airspace
29/11/15 13:12 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World. Israel’s defense minister says a Russian plane recently penetrated Israeli airspace but was not shot down thanks to open communications between the two countries.
» EU, Turkey seek better relations at emergency refugee summit
29/11/15 13:11 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World. European Union leaders eager for Turkey’s help in the migrant crisis cautioned against promising too much to their often reluctant partner at a summit in Brussels Sunday, even as Turkey’s prime mini...
» E.U. Offers Turkey 3 Billion Euros to Stem Migrant Flow
29/11/15 13:11 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from NYT > World. European Union leaders met with Turkey’s prime minister on Sunday, promising aid and other inducements in exchange for Turkish action to clamp down on asylum seekers.
» Iran’s top leader calls Paris attack ‘blind terrorism’
29/11/15 13:10 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World. Iran’s official news agency is quoting the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameini, as calling the recent Paris attacks “blind terrorism.”
» In wake of Colorado shooting, Obama calls for more gun controls
29/11/15 11:10 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story . The inside track on Washington politics. Be the first to know about new stories from PowerPost. Sign up to follow, and we’ll e-mail you free updates as they’re published. You’ll receive free...
» Kenya police: 2 Kenyans arrested for spying for Iran
29/11/15 10:57 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World. Kenya’s police chief says two Kenyans in police custody have admitted assisting the Iranian state intelligence to plot attacks on western targets in Kenya.
» Queen thanks Canadian PM for making her "feel old" in Malta
29/11/15 10:56 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from itnnews's YouTube Videos. From: itnnews Duration: 01:08 Queen Elizabeth thanks Canadian PM Justin Trudeau for making her "feel old" during her official visit to Malta. Report by Jonny Nelson.
» Heroin and the War on Drugs | Retro Report | The New York Times
29/11/15 10:55 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from TheNewYorkTimes's YouTube Videos. From: TheNewYorkTimes Duration: 14:14 In the 1970s, frustration over heroin related, urban crime led to the War on Drugs. Today, heroin is back. But the users, and the...
» Colorado Gunman Said 'No More Baby Parts'
29/11/15 10:54 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World News - Breaking international news and headlines | Sky News. The owners of the abortion clinic where the gunman exchanged fire with police have said it will "adapt and begin again".
» Saudi women begin campaigning for public office
29/11/15 10:51 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World news. Around 900 women running in next month's municipal elections
» Thousands in Turkey attend funeral of human rights lawyer
29/11/15 10:50 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World. Several thousand people are attending the funeral of a prominent lawyer and human rights defender who was killed in a shooting along with two policemen.
» Images, analysis released of Cleveland officer shooting boy
29/11/15 10:50 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from AP Top News at 9:56 a.m. EST. CLEVELAND (AP) -- Prosecutors in Ohio on Saturday released a frame-by-frame analysis of the surveillance camera footage first made public a year ago that shows a white Clevela...
» Iran seeks $30bn of new oil contracts
29/11/15 10:49 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from BBC News - World. Iran overhauls the way in which it offers contracts to foreign energy companies in a bid to attract up to $30bn of new investment.
» Islamic State Entrenches in Libyan Base
29/11/15 10:40 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from WSJ.com: World News. Sirte, on Libya’s Mediterranean coast across from Europe, has become the first city Islamic State governs outside of Syria and Iraq.
» Gay rights activists march in New Delhi parade
29/11/15 10:39 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World. Hundreds of gay rights activists danced to drum beats and held colorful balloons as they marched in a parade in New Delhi, celebrating what they call the diversity of gender and sexuality.
» Russian oil tanker grounded in north Pacific
29/11/15 10:39 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World. Russian emergency services say cleanup operations are underway after an oil tanker was grounded, damaging one of its fuel tanks.
» Syria's Assad says his enemies increasing support for insurgents
29/11/15 10:39 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Reuters: World News. AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al Assad told a senior Iranian official on Sunday that his adversaries have increased weapon supplies and financial support to insurgents sinc...
» U.S., allies conduct 22 strikes against Islamic State: U.S. military
29/11/15 10:38 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Reuters: World News. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and its allies conducted 19 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and three in Syria on Saturday, the coalition leading the operations said in ...
» Hundreds of Russian truck drivers head to Moscow for protest
29/11/15 10:37 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World. Russian truck drivers have been protesting across the country, and one of their leaders says hundreds of trucks are now heading toward Moscow to press their demands.
» Russia plays down idea of coalition with West to strike Islamic State in Syria
29/11/15 10:36 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Stars and Stripes News. The Kremlin on Friday played down the possibility of a grand coalition with the West to strike the Islamic State in Syria, despite personal visits by French President François Holla...
» Review: In 'The Spymasters,' CIA Leaders Recount Tactics of the Post-9/11 Years - New York Times
29/11/15 10:33 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from cia - Google News. New York Times Review: In 'The Spymasters,' CIA Leaders Recount Tactics of the Post-9/11 Years New York Times That opening monologue is a fitting start for Showtime's two-hour documentar...
» President Obama's Hypocrisy on Syria - New York Times
29/11/15 10:32 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from James R. Clapper Jr. - Google News. ABC News President Obama's Hypocrisy on Syria New York Times The president flippantly dismissed worries about the vetting process despite the fact that, as James R . Cla...
» Malaysia invokes British colonial-era law to silence critics
29/11/15 10:29 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Stars and Stripes News. Malaysia, ostensibly one of the United States' democratic allies in Southeast Asia, is engaged in a broad crackdown on freedom of expression that detractors say is all about silenci...
» CIA: We Should Not Bomb Certain ISIS Targets Because it May Harm Environment - Town Hall
29/11/15 10:28 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from cia - Google News. Town Hall CIA : We Should Not Bomb Certain ISIS Targets Because it May Harm Environment Town Hall Former CIA director Michael Morell said last week that the White House has hampered the ...
» RUSSIA: Cold War Weirdness Returns
29/11/15 10:18 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from StrategyPage.com. None
» Syrian opposition: Russian strikes kill 18, wound dozens
29/11/15 10:15 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Stars and Stripes. Airstrikes believed to have been carried out by Russian warplanes killed at least 18 people and wounded dozens more on Sunday in a northern Syrian town held by insurgents, Syrian opposit...
» Turkey drives hard bargain for stemming refugee flow to Europe
29/11/15 10:15 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from DEBKAFile. November 29, 2015, 2:17 PM (IDT) Ankara is demanding a 3 million euro package for a Turkish commitment to stem the flow of refugees from Syria to the European Union, as well as restarting stalle...
» Germany seeks to dispatch 1,200 troops to support anti-ISIS coalition
29/11/15 10:14 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from DEBKAFile. November 29, 2015, 4:44 PM (IDT) German Defense Minister Volker Wieker said Sunday that his country is seeking to dispatch 1,200 troops by the end of December to support anti-ISIS operations in ...
» White House Fence Jumper Left Suicide Note, Documents Show
29/11/15 10:13 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Voice of America. A man accused of jumping the White House fence while draped in an American flag left a suicide note with friends and a will with his mother, telling her she may never see him again, court...
» Tehran Claims It Didn't Engage In Cyberattacks
29/11/15 10:11 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. Iran says it has not reciprocated cyberattacks it has faced in past years with a similar response.
» Песков заявил о заинтересованности семьи Эрдогана в нефтяном бизнесе - РБК
29/11/15 10:11 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from В мире – Новости Google. РБК Песков заявил о заинтересованности семьи Эрдогана в нефтяном бизнесе РБК У родственников президента Турции Эрдогана есть «определенная заинтересованность» в нефтяном бизнесе. О...
» Russian SU-24 Fighter Jet Attack: Moscow Fortifies Anti-Aircraft Defenses In ... - International Business Times
29/11/15 10:07 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Russia - Google News. International Business Times Russian SU-24 Fighter Jet Attack: Moscow Fortifies Anti-Aircraft Defenses In ... International Business Times A frame grab taken from footage released by ...
» In New York, Warm Reception for Syrian Refugees
29/11/15 10:06 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Voice of America. A divisive debate over the fate of Syrian refugees ripples across the United States. But in New York City, home to immigrants from all walks of life, community organizations are taking me...
» Obama on Colorado Shooting: 'Enough Is Enough'
29/11/15 10:06 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Voice of America. President Barack Obama spoke out Saturday against the deadly shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado, saying, "Enough is enough." saying "enough is enough" to this attack and ...
» US Ends Bulk Telephone Data Program
29/11/15 10:05 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Voice of America. The U.S. federal government has ended will end its bulk collection of data from the telephone calls of millions of Americans. Americans at midnight Saturday. The move follows a controvers...
» Russia sometimes breaches Israeli air space, top defense official reveals - The Times of Israel
29/11/15 10:05 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Russia - Google News. The Times of Israel Russia sometimes breaches Israeli air space, top defense official reveals The Times of Israel Russia has breached Israeli airspace more than once since it began in...
» Turkey-Russia jet downing: Moscow announces sanctions - BBC News
29/11/15 10:05 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Russia - Google News. BBC News Turkey- Russia jet downing: Moscow announces sanctions BBC News Russia has announced a package of economic sanctions against Turkey over the shooting down of a Russian jet on...
» Vladimir Putin announces Russian sanctions against Turkey
29/11/15 10:05 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Russia | The Guardian. Kremlin decree issued to ‘ensure national security’ includes restrictions on imports and on Turkish staff working for Russian businesses Russia has announced a package of economic De...
» Mass Grave Of IS Victims Found In Iraq
29/11/15 10:04 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. A bomb-rigged mass grave containing the remains of more than 120 people killed by the Islamic State (IS) group has been found in northern Iraq, an official told the AFP n...
» Failure to stop Paris attacks reveals fatal flaws at heart of European security
29/11/15 10:04 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Europe. Open borders, poor intelligence sharing and a radicalized population make for a deadly mix.
» Britain told we MUST join Russia and launch air strikes in Syria to finally ... - Express.co.uk
29/11/15 10:04 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Russia - Google News. Express.co.uk Britain told we MUST join Russia and launch air strikes in Syria to finally ... Express.co.uk This week the call for Britain to take action stepped up a notch when Alexa...
» News Analysis: Merkel, While Refusing to Halt Migrant Influx, Works to Limit It
29/11/15 10:03 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from NYT > Europe. Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has rejected all requests to limit the influx of newcomers, maintains that it would be a “gigantic mistake” if Germans did not welcome refugees.
» Russian politician dies in apparent murder-suicide as husband raped her ... - New York Daily News
29/11/15 10:03 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Russia - Google News. New York Daily News Russian politician dies in apparent murder-suicide as husband raped her ... New York Daily News The jealous husband of a young Russian lawmaker killed himself and ...
» Russia removes India from list of safe travel destinations - India Today
29/11/15 10:02 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Russia - Google News. India Today Russia removes India from list of safe travel destinations India Today Russia has removed India from the list of safe travel destinations for its tourists. The Russian inf...
» Russia Places Sanctions on Turkey
29/11/15 10:02 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from NYT > Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday called for sanctions against Turkey, following the downing this week by Turkey of a Russian warplane.
» Russia and the West face a common enemy
29/11/15 10:02 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Russian news, all the latest and breaking Russia news. Let's put our differences aside and together fight the Islamist terrorists who threaten our way of life
» Big winner in Russia-Turkey crisis? Israel - Arutz Sheva
29/11/15 10:02 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Russia - Google News. Arutz Sheva Big winner in Russia -Turkey crisis? Israel Arutz Sheva Following this new escalation of growing tensions between Russia and Turkey, Arutz Sheva spoke with Professor Ze'ev...
» В двух районах Дагестана введен режим контртеррористической операции - Lenta.ru
29/11/15 10:01 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from В мире – Новости Google. Lenta.ru В двух районах Дагестана введен режим контртеррористической операции Lenta.ru Режим контртеррористической операции (КТО) введен на отдельных участках в двух районах Дагест...
» Тигра Амура и козла Тимура расселили, и хищник ревел от одиночества - РИА Новости
29/11/15 10:01 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from В мире – Новости Google. РИА Новости Тигра Амура и козла Тимура расселили, и хищник ревел от одиночества РИА Новости Прошедшей ночью Амур и Тимур спали в разных ночных вольерах, сообщили в приморском сафар...
» Turkey preparing to hand over body of pilot to Russia: PM - Reuters
29/11/15 10:00 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Russia - Google News. Reuters Turkey preparing to hand over body of pilot to Russia : PM Reuters Relations between Turkey and Russia have sharply deteriorated since Tuesday's incident, with Russia imposing...
» World Leaders Gather For Climate Summit In Paris
29/11/15 10:00 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. More than 140 world leaders are gathering in the French capital of Paris for crucial talks aimed at securing a long-term deal to slow man-made global warming.
» Body of Russian Pilot To Be Turned Over To Russia
29/11/15 10:00 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. Ankara plans to turn over to Moscow the body of the pilot killed when Turkey shot down a Russian jet last week.
» Russia plane entered Israel control zone from Syria: minister - Yahoo News
29/11/15 09:59 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Russia - Google News. Yahoo News Russia plane entered Israel control zone from Syria: minister Yahoo News Jerusalem (AFP) - A Russian warplane recently entered Israeli-controlled airspace from Syria but th...
» Body of shot down Russian pilot in custody of Turkish authorities - CNN
29/11/15 09:59 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Russia - Google News. CNN Body of shot down Russian pilot in custody of Turkish authorities CNN Istanbul (CNN) The body of a Russian pilot killed after his jet was shot down by the Turkish military has bee...
» Activists: Airstrikes Kill 18 in Northern Syria
29/11/15 09:59 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Voice of America. Syrian activists said Sunday airstrikes believed to be from Russian planes killed at least 18 people and wounded 40 others in northern Syria. The strike is reported to have hit a busy mar...
» Thousands Attend Funeral Of Turkish Human Rights Activist
29/11/15 09:35 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. The funeral has taken place in Turkey of a prominent lawyer and human rights defender who was killed in a shooting along with two policemen.
» Turkey Returning Body of Russian Pilot
29/11/15 09:35 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Voice of America. Turkey said Sunday it is returning the body of a pilot who died after parachuting out of a Russian jet that was shot down by Turkish forces last week. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu sai...
» Власти Севастополя отправят паром за застрявшими в Турции крымскими дальнобойщиками - Коммерсантъ
29/11/15 09:35 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from В мире – Новости Google. РИА Новости Власти Севастополя отправят паром за застрявшими в Турции крымскими дальнобойщиками Коммерсантъ Губернатор Севастополя Сергей Меняйло заявил, что в понедельник, 30 дека...
» Turkey to hand body of shot-down pilot to Russia
29/11/15 09:34 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Russia | The Guardian. Ahmet Davutoğlu did not say how body arrived in southern Turkey but says Moscow official will go to recover remains The body of the pilot killed when Turkey shot down a Russian jet w...
» Дальнобойщики Дагестана отправляются перекрывать МКАД
29/11/15 09:34 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from SvobodaRadio's YouTube Videos. From: SvobodaRadio Duration: 01:24 Водители большегрузных автомобилей во многих городах России уже третью неделю протестуют против введения новой системы оплаты проезда п...
» EU, Turkey Hold Summit to Address Migration Crisis
29/11/15 09:33 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Voice of America. Turkey and the European Union are meeting Sunday to discuss how to address the flow of migrants that has swamped both of them this year as conflicts and instability in other parts of the ...
» Moscow’s Campaign against Turkey Seen Alienating Turkic Republics Inside and Outside of Russia
29/11/15 09:33 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Window on Eurasia -- New Series. Paul Goble             Staunton, November 29 – Moscow’s war of words against Turkey and its insistence that the rest ...
» Израиль заявил о нарушении воздушного пространства российским самолетом - РБК
29/11/15 09:33 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from В мире – Новости Google. РБК Израиль заявил о нарушении воздушного пространства российским самолетом РБК Российский военный самолет нарушил воздушное пространство Израиля над Голанскими высотами. В израиль...
» More than Half of Young Daghestanis Want to Live in an Islamic State, Studies Show
29/11/15 09:32 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Window on Eurasia -- New Series. Paul Goble             Staunton, November 29 – Just over half of all Daghestani university students would prefer to l...
» Russia: 3 Islamic State-Allied Militants Killed in Dagestan - ABC News
29/11/15 09:32 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Russia - Google News. Russia : 3 Islamic State-Allied Militants Killed in Dagestan ABC News The National Anti-Terrorist Committee announced Sunday that security forces had killed the three militants after ...
» Slovakia To File Lawsuit Over EU Migrant Quotas
29/11/15 09:32 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico says the Central European country will file a lawsuit by December 18, challenging an EU planned quota system to distribute 120,000 asylu...
» Oil Spills After Russian Tanker Grounded
29/11/15 09:31 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. Russian emergency officials say clean-up operations are under way after an oil tanker was grounded, damaging one of its fuel tanks.
» Russian S-400 missiles turn most of Syria into no-fly zone, halt US air strikes
29/11/15 08:23 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story . The deployment of the highly advanced Russian S-400 anti-air missiles at the Khmeimin base, Russia’s military enclave in Syria near Latakia, combined with Russia electronic jamming and other electronic ...
» 3,921,4423,921,442
29/11/15 01:17 from Mike Nova - Google+
3,921,442 3,921,442 This post has been generated by Page2RSS
» 2015-11-28National Counterintelligence and Security Center Releases National
28/11/15 21:05 from Mike Nova - Google+
2015-11-28 National Counterintelligence and Security Center Releases National Counterintelligence Strategy National Counterintelligence and Security Center Releases National Counterintelligence Strategy Wednesday, November 18, 2015 NEWS ...
» Police: 2 Kenyans arrested for spying for Iran
28/11/15 20:48 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story . NAIROBI, Kenya -- Two Kenyans in police custody have admitted assisting Iranian state intelligence to plot attacks on western targets in Kenya, Kenya's police chief said Saturday. Abubakar Sadiq Louw, 69, and...
» National Counterintelligence and Security Center Releases National Counterintelligence Strategy
28/11/15 20:32 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story . Wednesday, November 18, 2015 NEWS RELEASE National Counterintelligence and Security Center Releases National Counterintelligence Strategy FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE         ...
» Iranian General Soleimani Supervised Operation to Save Russian Su-24 Pilot
28/11/15 19:43 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from GlobalSecurity.org. The pilot of the downed Russian Su-24 bomber was saved in a joint rescue operation supervised by the commander of Iran's elite Quds Force of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution, Maj...
» 3,918,3483,918,3482015-11-28President Obama’s Hypocrisy on Syria - The New York Times | Is Syria
28/11/15 17:01 from Mike Nova - Google+
3,918,348 3,918,348 2015-11-28 President Obama’s Hypocrisy on Syria - The New York Times | Is Syria the beginning of the end of Putinism? - The Washington Post | Kenya Police: 2 Kenyans Arrested for Spying for Iran - NYTimes.com | Top Ku...
» Gunman kills officer, two others at Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado
28/11/15 11:45 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story . The inside track on Washington politics. Be the first to know about new stories from PowerPost. Sign up to follow, and we’ll e-mail you free updates as they’re published. You’ll receive free...
» Gaffer tape and 500 euros: running guns to the heart of Europe
28/11/15 10:25 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story . By Aleksandar Vasovic and Gabriela Baczynska BELGRADE/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Need a Kalashnikov in Belgium? No problem, says "Nemac" the Serb; a few hundred euros will buy the gun and a place to stash it in a c...

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