Why Does Putin Surprise Us Again and Again? | » The Hidden Costs of Obama's Vision of American Power 14/03/16 08:31 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks

Why Does Putin Surprise Us Again and Again?

In Defense of the Obama Doctrine

Monday March 14th, 2016 at 8:38 AM

Defense One - All Content

1 Share

In October 2007, Senator Barack Obama, then a struggling Democratic presidential candidate, stood before a few hundred students at DePaul University in Chicago and delivered a speech that few in the foreign-policy world noticed. Five years after his famous statement against the disastrous Iraq invasion, Obama wanted to do more than remind his audience that he had been right all along, which was of course a useful distinction with his chief rival at the time, Hillary Clinton. He didn’t blame the Iraq War simply on George W. Bush or some neoconservative cabal that had hijacked the government, as many Democrats preferred to believe so as to absolve themselves of responsibility. Instead, Obama delivered a broadside against what he called Washington “groupthink.”

“The American people weren’t just failed by a president,” Obama said. “They were failed by much of Washington. By a media that too often reported spin instead of facts [and] by a foreign-policy elite that largely boarded the bandwagon for war.” For Obama, the mentality that led to Iraq was the most prominent example of a systemic breakdown—the result of a distinct mindset that had dominatedU.S. foreign policy for too long.

To drive this point home, Obama delivered the same speech twice more that day. But he drew scant attention; his message barely registered in the next day’s papers. Yet looking back, the DePaul speech was a harbinger. For the past seven years, Obama’s efforts to defy this kind of thinking—and redefine American “strength” and “power” in the world—have proven one of the defining features of his presidency. In many ways, this campaign is more far-reaching than any single accomplishment—bigger than the Iran nuclear deal, or the diplomatic openings to Cuba and Burma, or the rebalance to Asia, or even the recent Paris agreement on climate change. And as Jeffrey Goldberg’s remarkable article makes clear, with only 10 months to go before a new president is sworn in, it is a project that remains incomplete. Obama is still trying to overhaul what he calls the “Washington playbook.” (Full disclosure: I talked with Goldberg several times for this story, and have also sought his advice for my own forthcoming book on Obama’s foreign policy.)

What we see in Goldberg’s story is a president who engages global issues in a way that seems all too uncommon today. At a moment when politics is becoming only more cartoonish and corrosive, Obama’s conversations with Goldberg bring to mind what Colin Powell said in his endorsement of Obama in 2008—that he demonstrates “the kind of calm, patient, intellectual, steady approach to problem-solving I think we need in this country.”

This is Obama unplugged: his skepticism that military force should be the answer to every problem; his perspective that ISIS is a real danger, but not an existential threat; his belief that Russia’s behavior in Ukraine and Syria is ultimately self-defeating; his frustrations with “free rider” allies and suspicions about Arab partners, especially the “complicated” relationship with Saudi Arabia; his conviction that when it comes to solving global problems, the U.S. is flawed but indispensable, and must remain clear-eyed about its limits; his deep optimism about the American people; his low regard for posturing and empty gestures; and, of course, his frustration and genuine puzzlement with what passes as foreign-policy wisdom in Washington.

For those of us who served in the Obama administration, such views ring familiar. They’ve been the themes of a running conversation the president has been having about America’s role in the world, and have infused every decision of his. Although it is not quite right to characterize these themes as a “doctrine”—like most presidents, Obama eschews such all-encompassing frameworks, once remarking that he didn’t need a George Kennan—Obama has a coherent approach to projecting global leadership in an era of seemingly infinite demands and finite resources. Obama plays the “long game.”

The problem is that most of Washington plays a different game—one where the rules are black and white and quick results are rewarded, even if they don’t solve the problem (and in fact may make it worse). In this sense, Obama is reminiscent of the Christian Bale character in the movie The Big Short. He remains an outsider, seeing things in ways the establishment herd does not; he is both perplexed by the herd’s willingness to be repeatedly wrong and outraged by its irresponsibility in making the same mistakes over and over.

Take, for example, the 2013 red-line episode in Syria. The decision to refrain from striking President Bashar al-Assad is nearly universally viewed as the original sin of Obama’s foreign policy—as a devastating blow to American credibility and strength. As Obama admitted to Goldberg, it is “the point of the inverted pyramid upon which all other theories rest.” Obama confronts this critique head-on, expressing not only little regret, but also unabashed pride with how things turned out. Goldberg is right when he describes this incident as Obama’s moment of liberation.

Although it is politically incorrect in today’s Washington to say it, I agree with Obama’s conclusion. As a Pentagon official during this crisis, my top concern was the future of Syria’s chemical weapons—that Assad would use them or lose control of them. It was a threat for which the United States (or any other country) did not have an absolute answer. Obama was prepared to use force, and after Assad crossed the red line in August 2013 by using chemical weapons against his people, advocated for it. Yet most members of Congress, and an overwhelming majority of the American people, thought military action against Assad was a bad idea. While Obama concedes that the process he pursued during the red-line episode would not win many style points, in the end the United States achieved something through diplomacy with Russia that the use of force against Syria would not have accomplished: the removal of nearly all Syria’s chemical weapons, which at that time constituted one of the world’s largest stockpiles. By contrast, the planned strikes that Obama called off at the last minute would have only neutralized a small fraction of Assad’s arsenal.  

Imagine if Syria’s chemical weapons were still there today. With the rise of ISIS since the red-line crisis, we would be confronted with an even worse threat than the Bush administration wrongly claimed to be facing when it invaded Iraq. While the five-year Syrian Civil War remains a nightmare, and there were things the Obama administration could have—and should have—done differently to mitigate the conflict, I share the president’s doubts that the U.S. had the means to “solve” the problem in Syria in a way that would not have driven America straight into another Middle East quagmire.

Obama believes strength is about much more than big talk and military muscle. As he told Goldberg, “real power means you can get what you want without having to exert violence.” Strength comes not from bullying others or blowing things up, but from using America’s unique capabilities to convene countries in pursuit of common action, offering ideas, setting the agenda, and organizing the effort. Nor does strength come from pretending that solving problems is easy—and that if only the U.S.did more, things would be better. Most important, American strength abroad derives from its resilience at home, which is why Obama places such a priority on what he calls “nation-building at home.”

This conception of strength and leadership could not be more different than what’s on offer from the Republican candidates for president, who are taking macho posturing to new heights. Overseas, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s idea of strength provides a perfect antipode to Obama’s, one the critical herd should consider. Does it really want the American president to be “tough” and “strong” like Putin?

This is why Obama persists, with the same logic he deployed during his 2007 remarks at DePaul. As he nears the end of his time in office, the president is not cowering in defeat. I suspect, in fact, that the more establishment critics claim he’s doing things wrong, the more convinced he becomes that he is right.

Read the whole story

 

· · · · ·

The Hidden Costs of Obama's Vision of American Power

Monday March 14th, 2016 at 8:31 AM

Defense One - All Content

1 Share

It is a criticism I have heard from more than one person who has worked with President Obama: that he regards himself as the smartest person in the room—any room. Jeffrey Goldberg’s fascinating article reveals that this is a considerable understatement. The president seems to think he is the smartest person in the world, perhaps ever.

Power corrupts in subtle ways. It appears to have made Obama arrogant. As described in Goldberg’s story, he is impatient to the point of rudeness with members of his own administration. His response to Secretary of State John Kerry when he hands him a paper on Syria is: “Oh, another proposal?” “Samantha, enough,” he snaps at the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. “I’ve already read your book.” We learn, too, that he “secretly disdains … the Washington foreign-policy establishment.”

The president is also bluntly critical of traditional American allies. He is said to have told Prime Minister David Cameron that Britain “would no longer be able to claim a ‘special relationship’ with the United States” if it did not “pay [its] fair share” by increasing defense spending. The Pakistanis and the Saudis get especially short shrift here, as—predictably—does Israel.

“Bibi, you have to understand something,” he tells the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. “I’m the African American son of a single mother, and I live here, in this house. I live in the White House. I managed to get elected president of the United States. You think I don’t understand what you’re talking about, but I do.” Netanyahu may have wondered what exactly in Obama’s biography gives him such insight into the present-day predicament of Israel.

The president is also dismissive of a number of past presidents as strategists. “We dropped more ordnance on Cambodia and Laos than on Europe in World War II,” he tells Goldberg, “and yet, ultimately, Nixon withdrew, Kissinger went to Paris, and all we left behind was chaos, slaughter, and authoritarian governments that finally, over time, have emerged from that hell.” So much for Nixon and Kissinger.

He is equally dismissive of “mythologies” about Ronald Reagan’s foreign policy. The release of the American hostages in Iran had “nothing to do with … Reagan’s posture, his rhetoric, etc.” Invading Grenada did not help “our ability to shape world events.” The Iran-Contra affair “wasn’t successful at all.” Nor was Reagan’s withdrawal of U.S. forces from Lebanon in 1983. These views are not necessarily wrong. Instead, it is the president’s tone that jars—the sarcasm that Goldberg notes. The same tone is manifest in Obama’s sole comment on his immediate predecessor. “As I recall, because apparently nobody in this town does,” he says, “Putin went into Georgia on Bush’s watch, right smack dab in the middle of us having over 100,000 troops deployed in Iraq.”

Is there anyone to whom Obama does not feel himself superior? The surprising answer is President George H.W. Bush’s national-security adviser, Brent Scowcroft. “I love that guy,” Obama is quoted as saying. This will come as no surprise to readers of his 2006 book, The Audacity of Hope, but most people will scratch their heads. The president explains: “I am … an idealist insofar as I believe that we should be promoting values, like democracy and human rights” not only out of self-interest, but also because “it makes the world a better place.” But “you could call me a realist in believing we can’t, at any given moment, relieve all the world’s misery. … We’ve got to be hardheaded … and pick and choose our spots. … There are going to be times where our security interests conflict with our concerns about human rights.”

Which brings us to Syria, the central foreign-policy failure of the Obama presidency. The grim details of what has happened as the Syrian Civil War has escalated are all too familiar: a death toll of 470,000 according to the Syrian Center for Policy Research, nearly 4.8 million refugees according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and a flood of displaced persons and migrants arriving in Europe by sea at a rate of roughly 100,000 a month. Aside from the human suffering, the escalation of the conflict has had grave strategic consequences, not least of which has been the return of Russia to the region as a major player for the first time since the early 1970s.

The consequences of American non-intervention in Syria have, in some ways, been as bad as the consequences of American intervention in Iraq, though fewer American lives and dollars have been expended. Yet the realist in Obama has no regrets. Goldberg does future historians a valuable service by setting out in detail the president’s reasoning.

The president dragged his feet on Syria for three reasons. First, having been elected partly on the strength of his opposition to the Iraq War, he was and remains in principle reluctant to deploy U.S.troops (though not U.S. drones). In 2009, he felt the Pentagon had “jammed” him into approving a troop surge in Afghanistan; four years later, he felt he was being jammed again. Second, he misread the Arab Spring, initially equating protesters in Tunisia and Tahrir Square with Rosa Parks and the “patriots of Boston.”

Third, Obama regretted succumbing to pressure from his own advisers as well as from European allies to intervene in Libya in 2011. When similar pressures were brought to bear on him over the red line he himself had drawn regarding the use of chemical weapons in Syria, Obama revolted. On August 30, 2013—after consulting only Denis McDonough, his chief of staff—he decided to call off planned air strikes against the Syrian government, telling McDonough of his “long-standing resentment: He was tired of watching Washington unthinkingly drift toward war in Muslim countries.”

The president’s rationalizations of his U-turn need not detain us (“Assad would place civilians as ‘human shields’ around obvious targets … U.S. missiles would not be fired at chemical-weapons depots, for fear of sending plumes of poison into the air,” and so forth). The point is that if those arguments had been any good, there would have been no need to circumvent his own cabinet and advisers.

Susan Rice was “shocked.” When he found out that evening, Kerry told a friend: “I just got fucked over.” Even Vice President Joe Biden was on the other side of the argument (“big nations don’t bluff”). The usually loyal Gideon Rose, the editor of Foreign Affairs, thought it was a mistake. So did the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan. So did the king of Jordan. And so, of course, did Hillary Clinton.

When she later made public her criticism of Obama’s handling of Syria, Obama became “rip-shit angry,” according to a senior adviser. It was at this time that the White House went demotic with the facile slogan: “Don’t do stupid shit.” According to Ben Rhodes, Obama’s deputy national-security adviser for strategic communication, “the questions we were asking in the White House were ‘Who exactly is in the stupid-shit caucus? Who is pro–stupid shit?’”

This, then, was The Moment: Obama’s decision not to carry out his threat against Bashar al-Assad was, we are told, the defining moment of his presidency. “I’m very proud of this moment,” he tells Goldberg. “The overwhelming weight of conventional wisdom and the machinery of our national-security apparatus had gone fairly far. The perception was that my credibility was at stake, that America’s credibility was at stake. And so for me to press the pause button at that moment, I knew, would cost me politically. And the fact that I was able to pull back from the immediate pressures and think through in my own mind what was in America’s interest … was as tough a decision as I’ve made.”

August 30, 2013 was Obama’s “liberation day,” writes Goldberg—“the day he defied not only the foreign-policy establishment and its cruise-missile playbook, but also the demands of America’s frustrating, high-maintenance allies.” It was the day he finally threw out “what he calls, derisively, the ‘Washington playbook … [the] playbook … that presidents are sup­posed to follow … [the] playbook that comes out of the foreign-policy establishment.’”

One of the more remarkable aspects of the president’s defense of his Syrian flip is the role played in it by the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. As Goldberg writes:

At the G20 summit in St. Petersburg, which was held the week after the Syria reversal, Obama pulled Putin aside … and told the Russian president “that if he forced Assad to get rid of the chemical weapons, that that would eliminate the need for us taking a military strike.” Within weeks, Kerry, working with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, would engineer the removal of most of Syria’s chemical-weapons arsenal.

Now, some of us would argue that the foreign-policy establishment’s playbook said “Keep the Russians out of the Middle East” for a reason. Some of us would point to the sharp escalation of violence in Syria since Putin sent Russian bombers into action in the country. But, no, the president is one step ahead of us again. Letting Putin into the Syrian conflict, we learn from Goldberg, is known in Obama’s National Security Council as the “Tom Sawyer approach”—meaning “that if Putin wanted to expend his regime’s resources by painting the fence in Syria, the U.S. should let him.” Smart! Except that if any of Tom Sawyer’s friends had taken Putin’s approach to fence-painting, there would quickly have been no more fence to paint.

At first sight, all Obama has done has been to exclude Syrian stability from the A-list of U.S. vital national interests. Goldberg mentions “a handful of threats in the Middle East” that the president decided early on “conceivably warranted direct U.S. military intervention”: the threat posed by al-Qaeda, any threat to the continued existence of Israel, and the related threat posed by a nuclear-armed Iran. By contrast, “the danger to the United States posed by the Assad regime did not rise to the level of these challenges.” On this point the president has been consistent.

Yet his reason for downplaying Syria bears closer scrutiny. In Obama’s mind, Syria’s civil war is just a senseless deviation from what he likes to call “the arc of history.” He believes (following my Harvard colleague Steve Pinker) “that overall, humanity has become less violent, more tolerant, healthier, better fed, more empathetic, more able to manage difference.” The big exception is the Middle East, because of the persistence of tribalism, which he sees as an atavistic reaction to the stresses of global­ization, “the collision of cultures brought about by the Internet and social media,” and “scarcities—some of which will be attributable to climate change over the next several decades.”

This analysis helps explain why the president underestimated—and still underestimates—the Islamic State, the principal beneficiary of the Syrian disaster. In a 2014 interview, as is well known, he called the group a “jayvee team.” More recently, he has come up with a new analogy. ISIS, the president has explained to his advisers, is like the Joker in the Batman movie The Dark Knight. When the Joker started decapitating American citizens, the president abandoned his policy of non-intervention in Syria. But his low-intensity air campaign against ISIS has conspicuously failed to destroy the organization.

“One of the top goals of the American national-security apparatus in Obama’s last year,” we learn, is to assassinate the “so-called caliph of the Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.” Well, the strategy worked with bin Laden, right? Decapitation of the organization is a sufficient response because, as the president tells Goldberg: “ISIS is not an existential threat to the United States.” He “frequently reminds his staff that terrorism takes far fewer lives in America than handguns, car accidents, and falls in bathtubs do.” (Maybe so, but bathtubs are not actively plotting to kill us.)

There is, however, a second reason why Obama downplays the threat posed by ISIS: He remains more worried about “the sort of panic … that would manifest itself in anti-Muslim xenophobia” than about Islamic extremism itself. Those who believe in a “violent, radical, fanatical, nihilistic interpretation of Islam” are, the president insists, “a tiny faction.” But this view is very hard to reconcile with the president’s own observation to Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull that Indonesia—where he lived for several years as a child—has been moving, in Goldberg’s words, “gradually … from a relaxed, syncretistic Islam to a more fundamentalist, unforgiving interpretation”:

Large numbers of Indonesian women, [Obama] observed, have now adopted the hijab, the Muslim head covering. Why, Turnbull asked, was this happening? Because, Obama answered, the Saudis and other Gulf Arabs have funneled money, and large numbers of imams and teachers, into the country … [funding] seminaries that teach the fundamentalist version of Islam.

The “tiny faction” theory of Islamic extremism is also hard to reconcile with the conduct of the country on which the president has placed the biggest bet of his career: Iran.

Not intervening in Syria may have been the toughest decision of Obama’s presidency, but it shrinks to strategic insignificance alongside his deal with Iran to slow down that country’s nuclear-arms program. The president assures Goldberg that he “actually would have” struck Iran’s nuclear facilities if he had seen the Iranians “break out,” or get to the brink of acquiring nuclear weapons. Yet the essence of his deal is that Iran’s breakout has merely been postponed—and Iran’s brazen testing of ballistic missiles in recent days strongly suggests that Tehran sees it that way.

The president may yet prove to be the smartest person in the world, or at least the smartest person in Washington. Perhaps Iran will become more politically liberal in the 10-year life span of the nuclear deal. Perhaps, too, the world will realize that climate change is a more serious, existential threat than, say, Islamic extremism. And perhaps future presidents will thank Obama for his “pivot” to Asia, which reflects his belief that the rise of China is a more important strategic challenge than the disintegration of the Middle East.

In the words of Defense Secretary Ash Carter, the president “consistently asks, even in the midst of everything else that’s going on, ‘Where are we in the Asia-Pacific rebalance? Where are we in terms of resources?’” We read of a possible U.S. naval base in Vietnam, part of the president’s strategy to check China’s ascendancy in Asia. “If you look at how we’ve operated in the South China Sea,” he tells Goldberg (in language that will not endear him to President Xi Jinping), “we have been able to mobilize most of Asia to isolate China in ways that have surprised China, frankly.”

Goldberg concludes his important and illuminating article by crediting Obama with “a set of potentially historic foreign-policy achievements … the opening to Cuba, the Paris climate-change accord, the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, and … the Iran nuclear deal.” The key word here is “potentially.”

If you think you are smarter than every foreign-policy expert in the room, any room, then it is tempting to make up your own grand strategy. That is what Obama has done, to an extent that even his critics underestimate. There is no “Obama doctrine”; rather, we see here a full-blown revolution in American foreign policy. And this revolution can be summed up as follows: The foes shall become friends, and the friends foes.

In the Middle East, Israel and Saudi Arabia are out, Iran is in. Similarly, in the Far East, China is out, Vietnam is in. As for a special relationship, the president would rather have one with Cuba than Britain. Nothing could better illustrate the extent of Barack Obama’s repudiation of the “foreign-policy establishment.”

Yet grand strategies are judged by their consequences, not by their intentions, and in the Middle East—not to mention North Africa and parts of South Asia—the consequences are not looking pretty.

If the arc of history is in fact bending toward Islamic extremism, sectarian conflict, networks of terrorism, and regional nuclear-arms races, then the 44th president will turn out to have been rather less smart than the foreign-policy establishment he so loftily disdains.

Read the whole story

 

· · · · · · · · · ·

Maryland police: Officer shot, 2 suspects in custodyby By JESSICA GRESKO

Sunday March 13th, 2016 at 9:52 PM

AP Top News At 8:28 A.M. EDT

1 Share

CHEVERLY, Md. (AP) -- Two suspects were in custody after a police officer and another person were shot and wounded near a police station in a Maryland suburb of the nation's capital, authorities said Sunday....

The New Interventionists, Putin’s Surprises, and Why Change in Russia Is Not Possible

Sunday March 13th, 2016 at 9:46 PM

Home - Institute Of Modern Russia

1 Share

In this week’s Western media highlights, Mark Leonard writes in Project Syndicate that the post-Cold War international order is being challenged at several fronts simultaneously by countries like Russia, Iran, China and Saudi Arabia. And Stephen Blank points out in his comment for the Atlantic Council that the West (specifically the U.S. experts and policymakers) fail to fully comprehend Russia’s behavior and its motives. Meanwhile, in the Russian media, Yakov Mirkin continues the debate on the poor state of the Russian economy.

Australian journalists held in Malaysia - Gulf Today

Sunday March 13th, 2016 at 8:50 PM

World - Google News

1 Share

Australian journalists held in Malaysia Gulf Today KUALA LUMPUR: Two Australian journalists were detained overnight and have been barred from leaving Malaysia after they tried to “aggressively” question Prime Minister Najib Razak about a corruption scandal, police said on Sunday. The pair were ... and more »

Egyptian justice minister fired after saying he would jail the Prophet Muhammad - Los Angeles Times

Sunday March 13th, 2016 at 8:49 PM

World - Google News

1 Share

Los Angeles Times

Egyptian justice minister fired after saying he would jail the Prophet Muhammad Los Angeles Times Egypt's Justice Minister Ahmed al-Zind was removed from his position on Sunday after he said that even the Prophet Muhammad would be jailed if he broke the law. In response to a question about imprisoning journalists, Al-Zind told an Egyptian private ... Egypt's justice minister sacked after comments criticized as blasphemousReuters Egyptian minister sacked for pledge to jail Prophet MuhammadBBC News Comment About Prophet Muhammad Costs Egyptian Minister His JobNewsweek Yahoo News -New York Times all 103 news articles »

Next Page of Stories

Loading...

Page 2

VIDEO: Turkish capital hit by huge explosion

Sunday March 13th, 2016 at 8:49 PM

BBC News - World

1 Share

A car bomb has killed at least 34 people and wounded more than a hundred, in the heart of the Turkish capital, Ankara.

Can Saudi Arabia fight two wars at once?

Sunday March 13th, 2016 at 8:48 PM

BBC News - World

1 Share

How is Saudi Arabia managing to fight two wars at once?

In the Apple Case, a Debate Over Data Hits Home - New York Times

Sunday March 13th, 2016 at 8:47 PM

James B. Comey - Google News

1 Share

New York Times

In the Apple Case, a Debate Over Data Hits Home New York Times For the F.B.I. and local law enforcement agencies, the fight has become a high-stakes struggle to prevent what James B. Comey, the bureau's director, calls “warrant-free zones” where criminals can hide evidence out of reach of the authorities ...

Despite low hopes, another attempt to end war in Syria

Sunday March 13th, 2016 at 8:47 PM

Stars And Stripes

1 Share

Still looking far from ready to compromise, representatives from Syria's government and opposition arrived here Sunday ahead of another round of U.N.-backed negotiations to end their catastrophic civil war.

     

Bomb Attack Kills at Least 34 in Ankara

Sunday March 13th, 2016 at 8:47 PM

Defense News - Home

1 Share

A car bomb attack Sunday evening in Ankara killed at least 34 and injured 125, including seven police officers, Turkish officials said.

       

In Russia, there's a whole week dedicated to pancakes - AOL News

Sunday March 13th, 2016 at 8:46 PM

Russia - Google News

1 Share

AOL News

In Russia, there's a whole week dedicated to pancakes  AOL News ROSTOV-ON-DON, RUSSIA. MARCH 13, 2016. A girl eating blini (Russian pancakes) during Maslenitsa festival [Pancake Week]. The holiday celebrates the end of winter and marks the arrival of spring. Valery Matytsin/TASS (Photo by Valery Matytsin\TASS  ... and more »

Next Page of Stories

Loading...

Page 3

Voters deliver a message for Germany’s Angela Merkel: No more migrants by Anthony Faiola

Sunday March 13th, 2016 at 8:46 PM

Europe

1 Share

An upstart populist party scored big gains in local elections.

Read the whole story

 

· · ·

Why Does Putin Surprise Us Again and Again?

Sunday March 13th, 2016 at 8:43 PM

1 Share

March 7, 2016

People walk past a graffiti depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin seen on a residential building in Simferopol, Crimea, August 19, 2015. The sign on the graffiti reads "Ours." REUTERS/Pavel Rebrov

From Great Britain to the Black Sea, Russia is waging a constant, unceasing information war against virtually every European government. This war takes many forms, but information war in essence entails what Peter Pomerantsev called the weaponization of information in the form of lies, misinformation, propaganda, exploitation of agents of influence, and reflexive actions inducing opponents to behave in ways they think benefit them but actually work to the enemy’s advantage. Among other things, numerous reports show that an army of so-called trolls exist in Russia who do nothing but defame honest reporters and reporting on Russia, and saturate the internet, television, newspapers, and other media with their misinformation.

All of this is well known, but in Europe and the United States, the “counterattack” to this form of warfare is almost invisible. US officials freely admit that they cannot deal with these attacks, and certainly there is no observable strategy, or even the beginnings of a program of action to confront this campaign of mendacity.

Yet the means to oppose this challenge are available to those who care to look for them. There is general agreement that the roots of Russia’s information war date back to the Soviet period. Both a cadre of experts and a literature exist that explain this form of warfare in both the past and the present, and outline how it can be successfully fought.

But in fact, today’s intelligence and policy community remains singularly ill-equipped and unready to meet this challenge. As US media and the House of Lords have already written, the United States and the United Kingdom lack sufficient experts in Russia and Russian military strategy. Moreover, despite the Obama administration’s frequent complaints about its lack of expertise, it neither makes adequate use of existing expertise, nor invests in creating new experts, nor solicits the views of independent experts outside the bureaucracy. By these policies and omissions, the Obama administration’s policymakers signal that in fact they do not take this threat seriously, despite its malignant effects.

Beyond those facts, the US intelligence community and policymakers are caught up in an ethnocentric paradigm of social science and marketing methodology with regard to information warfare that is utterly irrelevant to the way Moscow thinks and the sources of its behavior. Intelligent and well-educated professionals are apparently unable to understand that Russia exists in a cognitive universe that is utterly different from, if not antagonistic to, that of the United States—and that to understand Russian tactics and policies, one needs to think like a Russian.

This is not a new failure: in far too many wars, the United States has experienced this inability to grasp who the enemy is and how he thinks. Thus it is validating the observation attributed to Albert Einstein that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Officials who disdain the need for specialists familiar with Russian language, culture, and overall defense policy, or who believe that Russians generally think and act just as they do, have primed themselves for disaster. And Moscow is only too happy to play this message back to credulous audiences who cannot or will not do the necessary homework to see what is really occurring. No less crippling is the US belief that anything it does is propaganda—as if telling the truth to foreign audiences, including Russian ones, is propaganda. The failure to devise an adequate strategy for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty or the Voice of America, or to fund one, and the continuing refusal to bring back something like the United States Information Agency, indicates a failure to understand what contemporary war is all about.

The United States will not acquire this insight by trying to categorize other cultures and civilizations, e.g. ISIL, in terms of a US social science that pretends to universality but is actually culturally blinkered and unable to understand that it is dealing with greatly opposed cultures that do not rely on this psychology. Educating specialists in language, history, philosophy, and literature would pay bigger benefits than continuing to immerse them in political science theory that assumes history began with Mikhail Gorbachev, or is wedded to the latest social science fads.

A century and a half ago, Abraham Lincoln admonished Congress that “as our situation is new, we must think anew.” Yet the United States refuses to take Lincoln’s words to heart. Until we genuinely comprehend these precepts, we will continue to fail to grasp Russia or our other adversaries, and will continue to be surprised by them, as has been the case in Crimea, the Donbas, and Syria.

UNESCO asserts, “Wars begin in the minds of men.” But the United States has closed itself off from its antagonists’ minds, and the resulting disarray is visible for all to see.

Stephen Blank is a Senior Fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council.

Read the whole story

 

· · · ·

Intolerant Left Shuts Down Trump Rally in Chicago

Sunday March 13th, 2016 at 8:21 PM

Rss

1 Share

A collection of intolerant leftist groups and individuals, including <a href="http://Moveon.org" rel="nofollow">Moveon.org</a>, Black Lives Matter, and even former Weather Underground terrorist Bill Ayers, succeeded in shutting down a Trump for President rally in Chicago on Friday. In Dayton, Ohio, Secret Service agents had to come between Trump and protesters who attempted to storm the stage, and it is thought there were plans to try the same thing at the aborted Chicago rally.

Trump’s rally was scheduled at the University of Chicago Pavilion, and over 5,000 people were already inside, with thousands more standing in a line outside that stretched for several miles, when the event was suddenly cancelled.

Chicago Police insist that they had the situation well in hand, and they did not advise Trump to cancel the event, but following the announcement that the event was not going to happen, fist fights broke out throughout the Pavilion, which led to five arrests and injuries to two officers. One officer suffered a bloody gash after being struck by a bottle.

Huge Catalog! Over 30,000 Products. Same Day Shipping from 11 Locations

www.ULINE.com

Trump said he “postponed” the event because he did not “want to see people hurt or worse,” adding, “I think we did the right thing.”

Trump rallies have experienced increasing violence over the past several weeks, but this is the first time that an event had to be cancelled. Evidently, that was the goal of many of the protesters. When the announcement was made that the rally had been called off, many protesters were joyous. “We did it!”

“My focus was set on shutting it down,” Jedediah Brown, a supporter of Senator Bernie Sanders, said after being dragged from the stage by security after destroying a Trump poster. He compared his actions to the civil rights movement. “Trump’s message, Trump’s campaign is not welcome in Chicago.”

The leftist group, <a href="http://Moveon.org" rel="nofollow">Moveon.org</a>, circulated a petition in the days before the event, insisting that officials terminate the rally. In a statement rich with irony, the petition said they wanted to shut the rally down because Trump is guilty of “hate,” and “dangerous intolerance.” <a href="http://Moveon.org" rel="nofollow">Moveon.org</a> argued that a Trump rally “has no place in Chicago.”

Among those demonstrating outside the arena was domestic terrorist Bill Ayers, a Chicago resident. Ayers was once a leader in the Weather Underground, and participated in bombing police headquarters in New York City in 1970. President Barack Obama literally launched his political career in the home of Ayers, with a fund raising event. When he ran for president in 2008, Obama was asked about beginning his first political campaign with the support of a terrorist, who had bombed buildings. Obama claimed that Ayers was “just a guy in the neighborhood.”

After Trump's Chicago rally was cancelled, Ayers sent out the following tweet:

“It’s a shame,” said Trump supporter Bill Tail, a resident of the Chicago suburb of Oaklawn. “They scream about tolerance, but are being intolerant themselves.”

This was not the first time that the Trump campaign has had to deal with hecklers and protesters at his public rallies. Trump has personally engaged the protesters in calling for their ouster from his events. Recently, Trump told protesters at his St. Louis rally that they needed to go home to mommy, and that they needed to “get a job,” because “they contribute nothing.”

He has told supporters at his rallies to slug protesters, even saying he would like to do so himself, and expressing his liking of the old days when such protesters would be “carried out on a stretcher.” At a recent event, a protester was “sucker punched” by a Trump backer, as police carried him out. Trump has even described his supporters punching protesters as “a beautiful thing.”

Not surprisingly, Trump’s Republican primary opponents have been asked what they think of such violence at Trump rallies. All condemned the intolerant attitude of the protesters, but placed some of the blame for this turn of events on Trump himself. Carly Fiorina, who has dropped out of the race and endorsed Senator Ted Cruz, said the groups were “organized” for the purpose of disrupting the rally, but that Trump should take some responsibility. “Tone is set at the top,” she said.

Senator Marco Rubio offered examples of incendiary Trump language, and said, “It shouldn’t surprise us that you see a growing amount of violence at some of these events.”

Cruz laid the responsibility for violence on those actually exchanging blows, but he added that “any candidate is responsible for the culture of his campaign.”

For those who think that shutting down Trump rallies is the beginning — or the end — of the efforts of the Radical Left to shut down political speech, they have not been paying attention. Ilya Sheyman, executive director of the left-wing <a href="http://MoveOn.org" rel="nofollow">MoveOn.org</a> Political Action, was blunt in explaining what the intentions are. “Our country is better than the shameful, dangerous, and bigoted rhetoric that has been the hallmark of the Trump campaign. To all of those who took to the streets of Chicago, we say thank you for standing up and saying enough is enough. To Donald Trump, and the GOP, we say, welcome to the general election.” (Emphasis added.)

In other words, this type of reaction is not limited to Donald Trump’s campaign. Just who do these radicals oppose? Sheyman said, “Trump and those who peddle hate and incite violence have no place in our politics.”

The question is who is going to define “hate?” Considering that the Left regards anyone who is an evangelical Christian or a political conservative as peddling hate, the targets for these extremists should be quite clear.

That they can generate such large numbers of protesters to censor an American political candidate should be alarming, whether one favors Trump or another candidate. One Chicago police officer estimated that 10 percent of Trump’s crowd were protesters “here to shut it down.”

Kamran Siddiqui, a self-identified supporter of Senator Bernie Sanders, an avowed socialist confirmed the police officer’s observation that many were at the rally simply to suppress speech they did not agree with. “We came in here and we wanted to shut this down.” He was joyous for having stopped Trump from speaking at his own really, describing it as “amazing.”

Activist Quo Vadis agreed the goal was to “completely interrupt” Trump and “shut Donald Trump all the way down.”

This authoritarian mind-set has gone on mostly unchecked on America’s college campuses for years. On far too many college campuses, any expression of conservative or libertarian thought is punished by firing professors who are not progressive Left — or, as more likely not even hiring them to begin with. Those of a more conservative bent are denied degrees, or the opportunity to publish in left-controlled academic publications — all in the name of fighting intolerance.

Kirsten Powers, in her book, The Silencing: How the Left is Killing Free Speech, cited the grim statistics. According to Powers, in the six years from 2009 to 2014, “the number of protests resulting in speech cancellations equals those from the previous twenty-two year period at 62 instances each.”

Powers quoted a student at one university who told the school newspaper that she was really bothered with “the whole idea ... that at a liberal arts college we need to be hearing a diversity of opinion.”

Conservatives are generally not even invited to speak at the vast majority of America’s colleges and universities, and often, when they are, they are often heckled, booed, and even physically assaulted. When Congressman Tom Tancredo attempted to speak at the Michigan State University Law School, his talk was interrupted by false fire alarms. At Columbia, students actually stormed the stage and attacked Jim Gilchrist, the founder of the Minuteman Project, which opposes illegal immigration.

One can certainly disagree with Trump’s political views and question his judgment in regard to some of the bombastic things he says from the stage, but Republicans who think they are immune from these extreme tactics will probably think differently very soon.

It must be noted that Obama got his start as a community organizer — in Chicago — a position designed to stir up discontent in the community, then channel that discontent to advance certain leftist goals. Obama’s political career began in Bill Ayers’ living room, and Ayers was among those protesting in the streets of Chicago, not for the purpose of expressing a contrary view so much as “shutting down” the opportunity of a top Republican presidential candidate to even get up at his own rally and express a view.

After more than seven years of Barack Obama treating the United States of America as a larger extension of his Chicago-style community organizing — or as detractors call it, community agitating — we should not be surprised that violent leftist tactics have expanded beyond the illiberal college campuses and spilled out to suppress free speech in the general public.

Photo of anti-Trump protesters chanting "Bernie" and "We stopped Trump": AP Images 

Steve Byas is a professor of history at Hillsdale Free Will Baptist College in Moore, Oklahoma. His book History’s Greatest Libels is a challenge to the lies told about such persons as Warren Harding, Clarence Thomas, and Marie Antoinette.                                          

Read the whole story

 

· · · · · ·

San Bernardino Attackers’ Friend Spoke of ‘Sleeper Cells’ Before Rampage

Sunday March 13th, 2016 at 7:57 PM

1 Share

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — The regulars did not take it seriously when Enrique Marquez mused about terrorism at Morgan’s Tavern, a dank dive bar where Mr. Marquez hauled ice, cleaned bathrooms and checked IDs at the door. After a few drinks, he would just start talking — about his money woes, trying to lose weight, wanting to join the Navy. News reports about terrorism were just fodder for more bar talk.

“He would say stuff like: ‘There’s so much going on. There’s so many sleeper cells, so many people just waiting. When it happens, it’s going to be big. Watch,’ ” said Nick Rodriguez, a frequent patron who had known Mr. Marquez on and off for the past two years. “We took it as a joke. When you look at the kid and talk to him, no one would take him seriously about that.”

But nine days after a husband and wife slaughtered 14 people in a terrorist attack at a county health department meeting, Mr. Marquez, 24, a childhood friend of the husband, Syed Rizwan Farook, has become a crucial if unlikely figure in the investigation of the attack — which was just the kind he discussed when terrorism news reports flashed onto the tavern’s television.

While he initially checked himself into a mental health facility after the Dec. 2 massacre in San Bernardino, he has been speaking for hours with federal investigators after waiving his right to remain silent and not incriminate himself, officials say.

Federal investigators believe that, more than any other witness, Mr. Marquez, a convert to Islam, has “held the keys” to understanding Mr. Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, and to shedding light on whom they were in contact with in the years leading to the attack, according to one senior law enforcement official. The couple were killed in a shootout with the police.

On behalf of Mr. Farook, Mr. Marquez bought the two assault rifles used in the attack, the authorities say. He told investigators he had done so, in 2011 and 2012, because Mr. Farook believed he could not pass a background check, officials said. Mr. Marquez has also described in detail how he and Mr. Farook had been planning another terrorist attack together in 2012, the authorities say.

They appear to have been scared off by arrests related to a separate terrorism ring in Riverside County that was prosecuted in 2012, the authorities said, sending two men to federal prison for a scheme to kill American troops in Afghanistan.

Mr. Marquez’s cooperation with investigators could turn out to be very detrimental to his future. His purchase of the assault rifles for Mr. Farook and his planning of an attack in 2012, if proved, would be federal crimes that come with stiff sentences, according to law enforcement officials. While the authorities say they are grateful for his cooperation, they will almost certainly charge him, officials said.

Mr. Marquez has not yet been charged with any crime, and he has told investigators he did not know that the couple were plotting the shootings at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino. But Mr. Marquez’s role is particularly concerning because counterterrorism officials believe that he represents a strand of impressionable people at life’s margins with no obvious connections or sympathies with terrorist groups, who can be goaded or enticed toward violence.

As investigators burrow into Mr. Marquez’s life, they now suspect that Mr. Farook and Ms. Malik were in the final planning stages of an assault on a location or building, perhaps a nearby school or college, that held many more people than the Inland Regional Center, according to a congressional official who has received briefings from law enforcement.

Officials have discovered a potential link between the attackers and Islamic extremism.

Mr. Farook smashed his cellphones and took steps to delete computer files, but investigators have been able to retrieve photographs, including one image of a local high school. On Thursday, divers started searching a lake in San Bernardino where the authorities suspect the couple dumped incriminating electronics, including a computer hard drive.

For days, members of Mr. Marquez’s family have lain low inside their palm-shaded home, where smashed windows and a broken garage door are the lingering marks of raids by federal agents. Mr. Marquez’s mother, Armida Chacon, briefly spoke to reporters Thursday, saying that her son and Mr. Farook had simply been friends and that her son is a good person. It is not known whether he has a lawyer.

Since he was a child growing up in a single-level beige home on an ethnically diverse block in suburban Riverside, Mr. Marquez fastened himself to Mr. Farook and his family. He and Mr. Farook tinkered on cars in their driveways.

He converted to Islam and attended at least one of the same mosques as the Farook family. When Mr. Farook’s older brother, Syed Raheel Farook, married a Russian hairstylist named Tatiana Gigliotti, Mr. Marquez was one of the witnesses. The other was Mr. Farook.

Last year, Mr. Marquez married the Russian sister of Raheel Farook’s wife. He later told a friend and people at Morgan’s Tavern that it was a sham marriage for immigration purposes. Bar patrons said he told them he had been paid $5,000 or $10,000 to marry Ms. Gigliotti’s sister, Mariya Chernykh.

Mr. Marquez had worked as a security guard at a local Walmart since May, but the company has decided to fire him, said Deisha Barnett, a Walmart spokeswoman.

He did mention guns at least once to Mr. Rodriguez, his drinking buddy at Morgan’s Tavern. Again, Mr. Rodriguez said, Mr. Marquez was drunkenly bragging, this time about his work as a security guard. “He was talking about his security card,” Mr. Rodriguez said. “He said something about having guns.”

But again, Mr. Rodriguez said, no one took this claim very seriously, either.

Mr. Marquez occasionally talked about Islam. Sometimes he came directly from mosque to the bar, Mr. Rodriguez said, adding that this did not deter him from drinking, even though Islam forbids alcohol. Mr. Marquez did avoid eating pork, at least as far as Mr. Rodriguez observed.

“He would come and say he just came from praying. He would just come in after and drink, which I never understood.” Mr. Rodriguez said, adding that he did not know what mosque he attended. Mr. Marquez never spoke about any antipathy toward Israel or about the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan, Mr. Rodriguez said.

People at at least two local mosques had recollections of Mr. Marquez. Perhaps two years ago, he worked briefly in the bookstore at the Islamic Center of Riverside, congregants there said. “I recall him,” said one congregant, Ahmad Zahran. “He comes in: ‘Hi, how you doing?’ ” But the two never spoke more. “There was nothing alarming about him,” Mr. Zahran said, “or he would have been reported.”

At the Islamic Society of Corona-Norco, Azmi Hasan, the facilities manager, recalled that Mr. Marquez first came to the mosque four to five years ago, shortly after converting at another mosque. At first, he came about once a month, usually to Friday Prayer.

“He looked very goofy,” Mr. Hasan said. “He looked like a regular kid.”

Members of the Marquez family have not responded to requests for comment, and lawyers for the Farook family did not respond to phone messages on Friday. Ms. Chernykh could not be reached. Mr. Farook’s mother was interviewed by investigators for at least seven hours, and family members have said through their lawyer that they are cooperating with the investigation.

Mr. Marquez announced the marital arrangement one day when he came into the bar — which the F.B.I. visited earlier this week — and offered to buy everyone drinks, Mr. Rodriguez, the bar patron, said. It was unusual behavior for Mr. Marquez, who was perpetually short on money; sometimes, he could not afford gas for his car, or he asked people to buy him drinks.

He told Mr. Rodriguez that he had posted photographs of himself and his wife at her apartment for the sake of appearances, but that Ms. Chernykh did not live with him and would not so much as kiss him. Viviana Ramirez, 23, a friend, said he did not seem happy with the arrangement.

One night, she said, he rode his bike to her house, began drinking and told her that he was married, but that it was an open relationship. “He needed more attention than what she was giving him,” Ms. Ramirez said.

Ms. Ramirez first met Mr. Marquez through an online “confessions” forum for students at Riverside City College looking for help with problems and a common connection. They were each frequent commenters and struck up a friendship, though not an especially close one, after meeting face to face. By that point, he was no longer a student at the college, according to records, but he told her that he was and that he had almost enough credits to graduate.

At no point did he give any indication of an inclination to do harm, Ms. Ramirez said. He discussed wanting to join the Navy, perhaps influenced by Raheel Farook’s military service. He never spoke about religion, and she did not know he was a Muslim, Ms. Ramirez said. He also did not discuss politics. Ms. Ramirez never met any of Mr. Marquez’s friends. Instead, she said, he often discussed music. He liked punk rock.

“At first, he was really shy,” she said. “But once you got to know him, he would laugh, joke around. He would never get mad. He had strong feelings that there was no point to getting angry — it was going to pass.”

Jerry Morgan, the tavern’s owner, said Mr. Marquez had already been a regular at the bar when he hired Mr. Marquez about three years ago. In addition to working at the door and taking out the trash, Mr. Marquez stayed in continual contact with Mr. Morgan, texting him an hourly count of the number of patrons in attendance and the number of drinks they consumed — so Mr. Morgan could keep tabs on sales and receipts.

“He was a goofy kid, a well-behaved kid,” Mr. Morgan said. “Shy. I picked him because of that. He did us right.” Mr. Morgan said that Mr. Marquez never spoke of religion, politics or firearms. Mr. Morgan said he was baffled by to learn that Mr. Marquez had bought two of the weapons used in the attack.

“Enrique sold him the gun?” he said during an interview at his bar. “Who the hell would have known?” The F.B.I. came by at 2 a.m. on Monday and interviewed Mr. Morgan. He told them that he last saw Mr. Marquez about a week before the attack, when he dropped by for a few beers.

Shortly after the shooting, Mr. Marquez’s friends noticed a cryptic and poorly written post on his Facebook page: “I’m. Very sorry guys. It was a pleasure.”

Read the whole story

 

· · · · · · · ·

U.S. Stays Off Battlefield, Yet Is Drawn Into Saudi War in Yemenby MARK MAZZETTI and ERIC SCHMITT

Sunday March 13th, 2016 at 7:10 PM

NYT > World

1 Share

Fighters loyal to the Saudi-backed Yemeni government celebrated after clashes with Houthi rebels and their allies in Taiz, Yemen, on Friday.

10 suspected cartel members killed in Mexico border cityby Alfredo Pena | AP

Sunday March 13th, 2016 at 7:10 PM

World

1 Share

At least 10 suspected criminals died in gunbattles with government forces Sunday during an anti-cartel operation in the city of Reynosa, which sits across the U.S. border from McAllen, Texas, Mexican authorities said.

Next Page of Stories

Loading...

Page 4

Putin's $50 Billion Oil Cache Gives Russia Luxury to Ignore ECB ... - Bloomberg

Sunday March 13th, 2016 at 7:09 PM

Russia - Google News

1 Share

Bloomberg

Putin's $50 Billion Oil Cache Gives Russia Luxury to Ignore ECB ... Bloomberg Russian central bankers have fewer reasons to offer relief to their recession-wracked economy than you might think. and more »

Walesa, Gorbachev and Freedom's End by By IVAN KRASTEV

Sunday March 13th, 2016 at 7:08 PM

NYT > Russia

1 Share

In Eastern Europe, even Nobel Peace Prize winners are unsafe from the forces of illiberalism.

England Avenges World Cup Loss to Wales With Six Nations Win

Sunday March 13th, 2016 at 6:46 PM

1 Share

England is the 2016 European Six Nations champion, but must win again in Paris next Saturday to take the biggest prize: the Grand Slam.

England’s players won the title while watching their televisions on Sunday as they saw France, the last team with a chance to catch them, lose, 29-18, to Scotland in Edinburgh. It is its 27th championship, breaking its tie with Wales (26) at the top of the all-time standings.

It was also England’s second trophy in 24 hours, since a 25-21 against Wales here at Twickenham on Saturday had completed the Triple Crown — victories over the other three British and Irish nations.

Victory over France (2-2) would complete a perfect first season for England’s new coach, the Australian Eddie Jones. It would be both its first slam in 13 years, since its World Cup winning year of 2003, and its 13th of ever.

France will go into the match on the back of consecutive losses. The loss on Sunday was its first defeat by Scotland in 10 years. It scored fine team tries at the beginning and end of the first half and showed spirit to fight back within 3 points after trailing by 18-5.

But France was no match for the rapidly improving Scots (2-2) in the most entertaining match so far of a low-quality tournament. Fullback Stuart Hogg was Scotland’s star, scoring its first try, landing a 55-meter penalty goal and creating its decisive third try for wing Tim Visser with a deft deflection of a long pass from scrum-half Greig Laidlaw’. Scotland will go to Dublin to play Ireland next Saturday in third place, with hopes of only its fourth top-half finish since its last championship in 1999.

If England does complete the slam to finish 5-0, it will most very likely look back at the 25-21 victory on Saturday over Wales as the moment where it all could have slipped away but didn’t.

England spent the first hour looking like a worthy champion, then nearly blew it. The match echoed the last time England played Wales at Twickenham, a 28-25 loss in late September during the World Cup. England’s loss of a match it had dominated played a huge role in why Jones replaced Stuart Lancaster after the cup.

But in September, England was never ahead by more than 10 points. On Saturday, England led by 18 points with only six minutes to go, yet gave away 14 of them as the previously ineffective Welsh finally found their edge. Left winger George North and No. 8 Taulupe Faletau scored late tries for Wales, both converted by flyhalf Dan Biggar.

England barely hung on to win at the end. North was taken down just a few yards short of a winning score by England center Manu Tuilagi, who came on as a replacement.

Wales scored three tries to England’s one, but any result other than an England win would have been a travesty.

“Our first 60 minutes was superb,” Jones said. “We played very well, with a lot of precision, were tactically smart and were physical.”

During that hour, England dominated Wales in every aspect of play, with the rookie lock forward Maro Itoje playing brilliantly. Itoje, 21, certainly is smart — he is studying for a political science degree at London University’s School of Oriental and African Studies. On Saturday, the 6-foot-5, 240-pound Itoje was a huge physical presence as well, dominating the lineout, making big tackles and setting up winger Anthony Watson to score England’s only try.

Wales produced its worst Six Nations showing in at least five years and was hopelessly outgunned in its usual areas of strength, losing the hand-to-hand battle for possession and missing 19 tackles in the first half alone.

“We just didn’t turn up in that first 40 minutes,” said Wales’ coach, Warren Gatland, who acknowledged that he thought about benching some starters after only 25 minutes. “At this level, that is just not acceptable.”

Wales trailed by 16-0 at halftime and, despite an opportunist try by Biggar, was still behind by 25-7 — with England center Owen Farrell kicking 20 points — when England was reduced to 14 men for the final eight minutes with prop Dan Cole getting a yellow card for collapsing a maul.

Jones blamed a change of attitude for England’s late collapse.

“In the last 20 minutes we tried to protect our lead rather than increase it,” he said. “If we had played with the same intent as in the first 60 minutes, we would have won by a lot more.”

Defeat eliminated Wales (2-1-1) from contention. It also lost its captain Sam Warburton with a head injury after 56 minutes, while England’s prop Joe Marler formally apologized on Sunday for calling Wales prop Sam Lee “a gypsy boy.”

Earlier on Saturday, Ireland (1-1-2) hammered Italy, 58-15, in Dublin, ending any fear that last year’s champion would fall from first to last. Eight players shared Ireland’s nine tries, its most in a championship match, with No. 8 Jamie Heaslip crossing twice.

The result doomed Italy (0-4) to its 10th last-place finish in 17 seasons — as many as Wales has recorded in 118 seasons.

Read the whole story

 

· · ·

The New Interventionists, Putin’s Surprises, and Why Change in Russia

Sunday March 13th, 2016 at 6:25 PM

Institute Of Modern Russia

1 Share

The New Interventionists, Putin’s Surprises, and Why Change in Russia Is Not Possible

5 – 11 March

11 March 2016

In this week’s Western media highlights, Mark Leonard writes in Project Syndicate that the post-Cold War international order is being challenged at several fronts simultaneously by countries like Russia, Iran, China and Saudi Arabia. And Stephen Blank points out in his comment for the Atlantic Council that the West (specifically the U.S. experts and policymakers) fail to fully comprehend Russia’s behavior and its motives. Meanwhile, in the Russian media, Yakov Mirkin continues the debate on the poor state of the Russian economy.

Mike Nova's Shared NewsLinks Review

 

From The Major News Sources

» The Hidden Costs of Obama's Vision of American Power
14/03/16 08:31 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Defense One - All Content. It is a criticism I have heard from more than one person who has worked with President Obama: that he regards himself as the smartest person in the room—any room.  Jef...

» Maryland police: Officer shot, 2 suspects in custody
13/03/16 21:52 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from AP Top News at 8:55 p.m. EDT. CHEVERLY, Md. (AP) -- Two suspects were in custody after a police officer and another person were shot and wounded near a police station in a Maryland suburb of the nation&...

» The New Interventionists, Putin’s Surprises, and Why Change in Russia Is Not Possible
13/03/16 21:46 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Home - Institute of Modern Russia. In this week’s Western media highlights, Mark Leonard writes in Project Syndicate that the post-Cold War international order is being challenged at several fronts simulta...

» Australian journalists held in Malaysia - Gulf Today
13/03/16 20:50 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World - Google News. Australian journalists held in Malaysia Gulf Today KUALA LUMPUR: Two Australian journalists were detained overnight and have been barred from leaving Malaysia after they tried to “aggr...

» Egyptian justice minister fired after saying he would jail the Prophet Muhammad - Los Angeles Times
13/03/16 20:49 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World - Google News. Los Angeles Times Egyptian justice minister fired after saying he would jail the Prophet Muhammad Los Angeles Times Egypt's Justice Minister Ahmed al-Zind was removed from his position...

» VIDEO: Turkish capital hit by huge explosion
13/03/16 20:49 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from BBC News - World. A car bomb has killed at least 34 people and wounded more than a hundred, in the heart of the Turkish capital, Ankara.

» Can Saudi Arabia fight two wars at once?
13/03/16 20:48 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from BBC News - World. How is Saudi Arabia managing to fight two wars at once?

» In the Apple Case, a Debate Over Data Hits Home - New York Times
13/03/16 20:47 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from james b. comey - Google News. New York Times In the Apple Case, a Debate Over Data Hits Home New York Times For the F.B.I. and local law enforcement agencies, the fight has become a high-stakes struggle to...

» Despite low hopes, another attempt to end war in Syria
13/03/16 20:47 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Stars and Stripes. Still looking far from ready to compromise, representatives from Syria's government and opposition arrived here Sunday ahead of another round of U.N.-backed negotiations to end their cat...

» Bomb Attack Kills at Least 34 in Ankara
13/03/16 20:47 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Defense News - Home. A car bomb attack Sunday evening in Ankara killed at least 34 and injured 125, including seven police officers, Turkish officials said.             

» In Russia, there's a whole week dedicated to pancakes - AOL News
13/03/16 20:46 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Russia - Google News. AOL News In Russia , Russia, there's a whole week dedicated to pancakes - AOL AOL News ROSTOV-ON-DON, RUSSIA . RUSSIA. MARCH 13, 2016. A girl eating blini ( Russian (Russian pancakes)...

» Voters deliver a message for Germany’s Angela Merkel: No more migrants
13/03/16 20:46 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Europe. An upstart populist party scored big gains in local elections.

» Why Does Putin Surprise Us Again and Again?
13/03/16 20:43 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story . March 7, 2016 People walk past a graffiti depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin seen on a residential building in Simferopol, Crimea, August 19, 2015. The sign on the graffiti reads "Ours." REUTERS/Pavel...

» Intolerant Left Shuts Down Trump Rally in Chicago
13/03/16 20:21 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from rss. A collection of intolerant leftist groups and individuals, including <a href="http://Moveon.org" rel="nofollow">Moveon.org</a>, Black Lives Matter, and even former Weather Underground terr...

» San Bernardino Attackers’ Friend Spoke of ‘Sleeper Cells’ Before Rampage
13/03/16 19:57 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story . RIVERSIDE, Calif. — The regulars did not take it seriously when Enrique Marquez mused about terrorism at Morgan’s Tavern, a dank dive bar where Mr. Marquez hauled ice, cleaned bathrooms and checke...

» U.S. Stays Off Battlefield, Yet Is Drawn Into Saudi War in Yemen
13/03/16 19:10 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from NYT > World. Fighters loyal to the Saudi-backed Yemeni government celebrated after clashes with Houthi rebels and their allies in Taiz, Yemen, on Friday.

» 10 suspected cartel members killed in Mexico border city
13/03/16 19:10 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World. At least 10 suspected criminals died in gunbattles with government forces Sunday during an anti-cartel operation in the city of Reynosa, which sits across the U.S. border from McAllen, Texas, Mexica...

» Putin's $50 Billion Oil Cache Gives Russia Luxury to Ignore ECB ... - Bloomberg
13/03/16 19:09 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Russia - Google News. Bloomberg Putin's $50 Billion Oil Cache Gives Russia Luxury to Ignore ECB ... Bloomberg Russian central bankers have fewer reasons to offer relief to their recession-wracked economy t...

» Walesa, Gorbachev and Freedom's End
13/03/16 19:08 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from NYT > Russia. In Eastern Europe, even Nobel Peace Prize winners are unsafe from the forces of illiberalism.

» England Avenges World Cup Loss to Wales With Six Nations Win
13/03/16 18:46 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story . England is the 2016 European Six Nations champion, but must win again in Paris next Saturday to take the biggest prize: the Grand Slam. England’s players won the title while watching their televisions o...

» The New Interventionists, Putin’s Surprises, and Why Change in Russia
13/03/16 18:25 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Institute of Modern Russia. The New Interventionists, Putin’s Surprises, and Why Change in Russia Is Not Possible 5 – 11 March 11 March 2016 In this week’s Western media highlights, Mark Leonard writes in ...

» Review: ‘Iolanta’ and ‘The Nutcracker,’ Reunited Naturalistically at the Paris Opera
13/03/16 18:25 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from NYT > Europe. Dmitri Tcherniakov’s production reconstructs these two tales of a female heroine’s awakening, while stripping “The Nutcracker” of its sugarplum sweetness.

» Mass anti-president protests in Brazil
13/03/16 18:24 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from BBC News - World. Huge crowds of protesters march through Brazil's cities calling for President Dilma Rousseff to resign over her alleged mishandling of the economy.

» Ankara blast: Turkish court 'blocks Twitter and Facebook' after explosion
13/03/16 18:24 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World news. After the attack kills 34 people and images from the explosion are widely shared, a court orders social media sites to be blocked, say local users

» Egypt minister sacked for Prophet remark
13/03/16 18:23 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from BBC News - World. Egypt's Justice Minister Ahmed al-Zind is sacked after boasting that he would jail Islam's Prophet Mohammad himself if the prophet broke the law.

» Rising Anger in Brazil Spills Into Streets
13/03/16 18:23 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from NYT > World. Demonstrators in São Paulo, Brazil, on Sunday called for the resignation of President Dilma Rousseff amid an economic crisis and corruption scandals.

» USAF Acknowledges Expanded Risk of Neck Damage to F-35 Pilots
13/03/16 18:23 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Defense News - Home. In the latest hurdle for the Pentagon's F-35 joint strike fighter, testers this summer discovered that a lightweight pilot's neck could snap during a low-speed ejection.     ...

» TO VISITORS OF WINDOWS ON EURASIA
13/03/16 18:22 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Window on Eurasia -- New Series. I am happy to report that my heart surgery was successful and that I am recovering well. I hope to return to the production of Windows sometime later this week. Many thanks...

» Syria accused of 'disrupting' peace talks over Bashar al-Assad 'red line'
13/03/16 18:02 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from The Independent - Europe. John Kerry warns Damascus against trying to 'act as a spoiler' with the role of Syria's President still a major stumbling block

» Officer shot outside of police headquarters in Md. - CBS News
13/03/16 18:01 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Top Stories - Google News. BNO News Officer shot outside of police headquarters in Md. CBS News PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, Md. -- A police officer was shot in Maryland outside of the Prince George County's Po...

» Bomb in Turkish capital kills more than two dozen
13/03/16 18:00 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World. The second major bombing in a month heightened fears that Turkey's wars are spreading.

» Official: Turkish police believe Kurdish militants carried out Ankara suicide bombing
13/03/16 18:00 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World. Official: Turkish police believe Kurdish militants carried out Ankara suicide bombing.

» February smashes global temperature record, says Nasa
13/03/16 17:50 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World news. Nasa announces February exceded historical average temperatures by more than any month in history, making it the third consecutive month to break the record

» German state elections: What does it mean for Angela Merkel and how important are the results?
13/03/16 17:50 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World news. After the exit polls suggest Mrs Merkel's party will lose two states, the German chancellor faces a rocky road as her party fears the impact of her refugee policy

» Brazil rallies call for president Rousseff’s impeachment - video
13/03/16 17:49 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World news + Video | The Guardian. Crowds gather in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Sunday to protest against the government and demand the removal of president Dilma Rousseff. Chants of “Fora Dilma!” [Dilma Ou...

» Obama tells Cuban dissidents he will discuss rights with Castro
13/03/16 17:49 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Reuters: World News. HAVANA (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama promised one of Cuba's most prominent dissident groups he would raise the issues of freedom of speech and assembly with Cuban President R...

» Why This Recent Piece of ISIS Intelligence Stands Out
13/03/16 17:48 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World – TIME. Two bonanzas surfaced in the war against the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) last week, although placing them in proper perspective proved daunting. You wouldn’t have gle...

» Turkey’s health minister says death toll in Ankara blast rises to 34
13/03/16 17:48 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World. Turkey’s health minister says death toll in Ankara blast rises to 34.

» Turkey’s interior minister confirms car bomb targeted civilians at a bus stop in Ankara
13/03/16 17:48 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World. Turkey’s interior minister confirms car bomb targeted civilians at a bus stop in Ankara.

» Violent weekend leaves 10 dead in Puerto Rico
13/03/16 17:46 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World. A police spokesman in Puerto Rico says a man has been shot to death outside a fast food restaurant, bringing to 10 the number of people killed during a violent weekend in the U.S. territory.

» Reports: Explosion in Turkish capital
13/03/16 17:45 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from CNN's YouTube Videos. From: CNN Duration: 03:30 Turkish media is reporting an explosion occurred in the country's capital of Ankara.

» Ankara blast: Immediate aftermath of Guven Park explosion
13/03/16 17:45 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from RussiaToday's YouTube Videos. From: RussiaToday Duration: 01:50 An explosion hit the center of Ankara on Sunday evening, with a number of people reportedly killed and wounded. The blast appeared to be ...

» Can Donald Trump unify a Republican Party he fractured?
13/03/16 17:45 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from FoxNewsChannel's YouTube Videos. From: FoxNewsChannel Duration: 14:45 The Republican presidential frontrunner responds on 'Fox News Sunday'

» AP Top Stories 13 P
13/03/16 17:44 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from AssociatedPress's YouTube Videos. From: AssociatedPress Duration: 01:02 Here are the top stories for Sunday, March 13th: French air investigators release details in Germanwings crash; Trump fires back ...

» Chaos erupts at Donald Trump rally in Chicago - YouTube
13/03/16 17:41 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story . Published on Mar 11, 2016 Chaos breaks out at a Donald Trump rally between protesters and supporters. CNN's Jim Acosta reports.

» Donald Trump Has Close Call in Dayton, Secret Service Steps in to Protect - YouTube
13/03/16 17:38 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story . Published on Mar 12, 2016 Saturday, March 12, 2016: At a Donald Trump for President rally in Dayton, OH, the U.S. Secret Service had to step in to protect Mr. Trump after a scare from a protester. Donald Trum...

» Attempted attack on Donald Trump at Dayton Ohio March 12, 2016 - YouTube
13/03/16 17:33 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story . Published on Mar 12, 2016 And attempted attack on Donald Trump during rally at hanger at Dayton international airport. To use this video in broadcast or in a media player contact <a href="mailto:licensing@...

» From ‘welcome’ to ‘enough’ — Europe’s migrant view shifts
13/03/16 16:41 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World. Last fall, soccer fans celebrated refugee children at a legendary Munich stadium; today, European voters are boosting anti-immigrant political parties and governments are closing their gates to new ...

» Blast Rocks Turkish Capital, Killing Dozens
13/03/16 16:39 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from VOAvideo's YouTube Videos. From: VOAvideo Duration: 00:28 Officials said the blast occurred on Kizilay square, a key shopping and transportation hub near foreign embassies Originally published at - htt...

» Only Islamic State gains as powers bicker over Syria, UN envoy warns
13/03/16 16:39 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World news. "Everybody is starting to get more concerned that the only one taking advantage of the war is Daesh," says Staffan de Mistura ahead of peace talks

» GOP hopeful Donald Trump stands by his campaign rhetoric - Washington Post
13/03/16 16:39 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Top Stories - Google News. Washington Post GOP hopeful Donald Trump stands by his campaign rhetoric Washington Post BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — Showing no signs of trying to ease the nation's tense political atmos...

» Egypt minister fired after comments about Prophet Muhammad
13/03/16 16:36 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World. Egypt’s government spokesman says the prime minister has fired the justice minister, two days after he said on TV he would even imprison the Prophet Muhammad if he committed a crime.

» Saudi Arabia says it will punish anyone linked to Hezbollah
13/03/16 16:35 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Reuters: World News. DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia said on Sunday it would punish anyone who belongs to Lebanon's Iran-backed Shi'ite Islamist group Hezbollah, sympathises with it, supports it financially...

» Syria's warring parties return to Geneva to talk peace, but hopes are low
13/03/16 16:35 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World. The U.S. is frustrated with Russia's inability to stop Syrian government attacks.

» From 'welcome' to 'enough' _ Europe's migrant view shifts
13/03/16 16:35 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from AP Top News at 4:24 p.m. EDT. PARIS (AP) -- Last fall, soccer fans celebrated refugee children at a legendary Munich stadium; today, European voters are boosting anti-immigrant political parties and govern...

» Ten suspected gang members killed in gunfight in northeast Mexico
13/03/16 16:35 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Reuters: World News. MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - At least 10 suspected gang members were killed on Sunday in an early morning firefight with federal security forces in the dangerous northeastern Mexican city o...

» China-Pak economic corridor - Chandigarh Tribune
13/03/16 16:34 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Cyber Warfare - Google News. Chandigarh Tribune China -Pak economic corridor Chandigarh Tribune When China signed the boundary agreement with Pakistan in 1963, the objective given in its Article 1 was to '...

» Death toll rises to 33 in car bomb blast in central Ankara
13/03/16 16:34 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from DEBKAFile. March 13, 2016, 10:02 PM (IDT) A car bomb explosion Sunday at the Guvenpark near the Turkish Education Ministry in central Ankara caused at least 33 fatalities and dozens injured.  Man...

» Turkish government 'blocks Twitter and Facebook' as part of alleged media ban following Ankara blast
13/03/16 16:34 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from The Independent - Europe. The alleged move comes just a week after the state take-over of the Zaman newspaper

» France Says Iran Risks EU Sanctions Over Missile Tests
13/03/16 16:33 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. France has warned that Tehran could face European Union sanctions over the ballistic-missile tests conducted by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps last week.

» Election Drubbing For Merkel Over Refugees
13/03/16 15:30 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World News - Breaking international news and headlines | Sky News. The state polls are the largest since the German leader opened the country's doors to more than a million migrants.

» Russia Accuses Turkey Of Operating 'Inside Syria'
13/03/16 15:29 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. Russia has accused Turkey of deploying troops "a few hundred meters from the border inside Syria" to prevent Kurdish groups in northern Syria from consolidating their pos...

» Car bomb in Turkey's capital kills at least 27, wounds 75
13/03/16 15:24 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from AP Top News at 3:11 p.m. EDT. ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- A car bombing in Turkey&apos;s capital has killed at least 27 people and wounded around 75 others on Sunday, officials said....

» Turkey explosion video: Dramatic CCTV shows moment 'car bomb' goes off in Ankara
13/03/16 15:23 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from The Independent - Europe. Witnesses in Ankara described seeing a huge explosion seen next to the main bus station

» Russia and the US now have the power to impose peace in Syria - The Guardian
13/03/16 15:22 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Russia - Google News. The Guardian Russia and the US now have the power to impose peace in Syria The Guardian The conference, like the current ceasefire, which began on 27 February, is taking place because...

» Russia and the US now have the power to impose peace in Syria | Charles Glass
13/03/16 15:22 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Russia | The Guardian. The previous two rounds of Geneva talks failed. But today, with President Assad’s position no longer in question, they can bear fruit It was scheduled to start over a week ago. Then ...

» Deadly Blast Rocks Turkish Capital
13/03/16 15:22 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. Turkish officials say at least 27 people were killed in a powerful explosion that occurred in the evening on March 13 in the capital, Ankara.

» Israel demands world powers punish Iran for missile tests
13/03/16 15:21 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from www.washingtontimes.com stories: Security. JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel is calling on world powers to punish Iran for its recent test-firing of ballistic missiles. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel ...

» France: Iran sanctions possible over missile tests
13/03/16 15:21 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from www.washingtontimes.com stories: Security. PARIS (AP) - France's foreign minister has raised the possibility of European sanctions against Iran after the country test-fired two ballistic missiles last week...

» Where is Islam’s Martin Luther?
13/03/16 15:21 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Washington Free Beacon. Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s Heretic , now out in paperback, is a provocative and ambitious book that aims to reform the second largest religion in the world. Hirsi Ali, a Somali born, Dutch r...

» Intelligence report: 4 not-so-rosy scenarios for the world
13/03/16 15:20 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Stars and Stripes. As a part of its new report on global trends, the National Intelligence Council developed four not-so-rosy scenarios that could become reality given major stresses the world faces during...

» Trump rally sparks extraordinary stretch in Republican race
13/03/16 15:20 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Stars and Stripes. In a Republican presidential primary filled with extraordinary moments, a 24-hour stretch that began Friday night stands above them all.

» Who’s to blame for Trump’s rise? Everybody
13/03/16 15:19 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Stars and Stripes. I am not saying that Trump is going to be the next president of the United States. I am out of the prediction business. I am in the warning business.

» Serbia: US-bound combat missiles found on passenger flight
13/03/16 15:19 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Stars and Stripes. Serbia's authorities are investigating reports that a cargo package bound for the U.S. containing two missiles with explosive warheads was found on a passenger flight from Lebanon to Ser...

» Apple, FBI in encryption debate - State of the State KS (subscription)
13/03/16 15:18 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from james b. comey - Google News. Apple, FBI in encryption debate State of the State KS (subscription) With those two conflicting rulings in mind, Congress needs to get involved to address the broader collisio...

» Apple vs. FBI iPhone case: Edward Snowden explains how FBI can ...
13/03/16 15:17 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from fbi aclu report - Google Blog Search. The method is described in a post on the American Civil Liberties Union ( ACLU ) site, which claims that FBI's stance on this particular matter is a lie. The Bureau is...

» Why the iPhone the FBI Wants to Crack Likely Has No Crucial Data ... - Fortune
13/03/16 15:17 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from fbi - Google News. Fortune Why the iPhone the FBI Wants to Crack Likely Has No Crucial Data ... Fortune Should Apple still help the FBI unlock the iPhone used by San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook if it is...

» FBI, Apple ratchet up rhetoric - The Hill
13/03/16 15:17 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from fbi - Google News. The Hill FBI , Apple ratchet up rhetoric The Hill Apple and law enforcement officials are ratcheting up the tone in their legal battle over a locked terrorist's iPhone, with both sides p...

» Why Apple is right to resist the FBI - TechCrunch
13/03/16 15:17 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from fbi - Google News. TechCrunch Why Apple is right to resist the FBI TechCrunch The FBI wants Apple to do something no private company has ever been forced to do: break its own technology. Specifically, the ...

» Britain Sends More Troops To Train Iraqis Fighting ISIS
13/03/16 15:17 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Defense News - Home. Britain said Saturday it was sending more troops to Iraq to bolster its mission training up the armed forces taking on the Islamic State jihadist group.         ...

» Russia’s Military Capabilities
13/03/16 15:16 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Defense News - Home. Phillip Karber, the president of The Potomac Foundation, discusses Russia’s formidable new generation war capabilities.             

» Next Generation Cyber Security Operations Center - Forbes
13/03/16 15:15 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Cyber Warfare - Google News. Forbes Next Generation Cyber Security Operations Center Forbes This post is written with Troels Oerting (@TroelsOerting), Group Chief Information Security and Trust Officer at ...

» Wise Co airport renamed for captured CIA agent Powers | News ... - WCYB
13/03/16 15:14 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from cia - Google News. WCYB Wise Co airport renamed for captured CIA agent Powers | News ... WCYB A Wise County airport has a new name honoring a Tri-Cities hero. The Lonesome Pine Airport is now the home of t...

» M of A - Syria: Another CIA Supplied Group Hands Its Weapons To ...
13/03/16 15:14 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from cia - Google Blog Search. While Nusra and Ahrar have support from Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the "moderates" are supported by the CIA which provides them with anti-tank weapons. When in 2013...

» Donald Trump fans flames over violence at his campaign rallies
13/03/16 15:07 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World news. Republican front-runner says he may pay legal fees for man who threw sucker punch at his rally, and threatens to send supporters to disupt Bernie Sanders events

» Brazil protests seen as key test for Pres. Rousseff
13/03/16 15:07 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World. Brazilians took to the streets on Sunday for a day of nationwide protests against embattled President Dilma Rousseff that’s widely seen as a key test of her ability to weather the political and econ...

» The Latest: At least 27 killed in Ankara blast; 75 wounded
13/03/16 15:06 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World. The Latest on an explosion in Turkey’s capital, Ankara (all times local):

» Ankara governor’s office says at least 27 killed in explosion
13/03/16 15:06 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World. Ankara governor’s office says at least 27 killed in explosion .

» Explosion in Turkish Capital Kills at Least 27, Officials Say
13/03/16 15:06 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from NYT > World. The blast was believed to have been caused by a car bomb and came three weeks after a deadly bombing on a military convoy in the same city, Ankara.

» Investigators study dynamics of deadly Italy avalanche
13/03/16 15:06 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World. Relatives of six backcountry skiers who were killed in an avalanche in the Italian Alps have paid their final respects as investigators piece together how such a huge block of snow could have dislod...

» For Donald Trump, protests create a short-term benefit and a long-term threat - Los Angeles Times
13/03/16 15:05 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Top Stories - Google News. Los Angeles Times For Donald Trump, protests create a short-term benefit and a long-term threat Los Angeles Times A flammable brew of populist anger, a candidate's provocative re...

» The Racist Backlash Against Barack Obama Is What Brought Us Donald Trump - Slate Magazine
13/03/16 15:05 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World - Google News. Slate Magazine The Racist Backlash Against Barack Obama Is What Brought Us Donald Trump Slate Magazine It's not just anger over jobs and immigration. White voters hope Trump will resto...

» Belarus Detains Prominent Businessman Once Close To President
13/03/16 15:04 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. Belarusian authorities have detained prominent businessman Yury Chizh on suspicion of large-scale tax evasion.

» U.S., France say Syrian government trying to spoil peace talks
13/03/16 15:04 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Reuters: World News. PARIS (Reuters) - The United States and France said on Sunday that comments by Syrian government officials ahead of a new round of peace talks were a provocation and Russia and Iran wo...

» Who is the man Europe's giving €6 billion to handle the refugee crisis?
13/03/16 15:03 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World news. After 12 years of dominating Turkish politics, Recep Tayyip Erdogan continues his sweeping campaign against journalists, academics and bloggers - yet Europe continues to work with Ankara

» Syria under pressure ahead of talks
13/03/16 15:01 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from BBC News - World. The US and France condemn efforts by the Syrian government to set limits to the agenda of a new round of peace talks due to start on Monday.

» The Latest: Trump outside Chicago arrives to calmer crowd - Washington Post
13/03/16 15:00 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Top Stories - Google News. Washington Post The Latest: Trump outside Chicago arrives to calmer crowd Washington Post WASHINGTON — The Latest on the 2016 presidential race two days before critical contests ...

» Man arrested at Trump rally told police act was preplanned
13/03/16 14:59 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from AP Top News at 2:00 p.m. EDT. CLEVELAND (AP) -- A man arrested after trying to jump on the stage at Republican Donald Trump&apos;s campaign rally in Dayton reportedly told police he planned to grab the...

» Egypt's justice minister to step down after comments criticized as blasphemous
13/03/16 14:59 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Reuters: World News. CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's justice minister was asked to resign by the prime minister on Sunday, judicial sources said, after being criticized for saying he would jail Islam's Prophet M...

» Avalanche in Italian Alps Kills 6 People
13/03/16 14:58 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World – TIME. At least six people were killed and another was injured Saturday in an avalanche in the Italian Alps . A group of more than a dozen people were climbing at nearly 10,000-feet altitude when a ...

» Explosion in central Ankara
13/03/16 14:58 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from BBC News - World. An explosion has been heard in the Kizilay neighbourhood of the Turkish capital Ankara, with reports of injuries.

» Egypt media says it’s facing a European-Islamist conspiracy
13/03/16 14:58 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World. Some Egyptian media and lawmakers are accusing the Muslim Brotherhood of bribing European Parliament members to adopt a resolution stating a “grave concern” that Egyptian authorities might be culpri...

» Explosion kills and wounds people in central Ankara, official says
13/03/16 14:52 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Reuters: World News. ANKARA (Reuters) - An explosion rocked the Turkish capital of Ankara on Sunday, killing and wounding an unknown number of people, a senior security official said.

» Large Explosion Heard in Turkish Capital Ankara
13/03/16 14:52 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World – TIME. (ANKARA, Turkey) — A News reports say a large explosion in Turkey’s capital, believed to have been caused by a bomb, the capital Ankara has caused several casualties on Sunday, according to n...

» Blast Rocks Turkish Capital
13/03/16 14:51 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Voice of America. A large explosion has been reported in Turkey's capital, Ankara. News reports say there have been casualties. The blast comes less than a month after a car bomb attack in the capital kill...

» Belarus arrests one of its wealthiest businessmen
13/03/16 14:51 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World. Belarusian security services have announced the arrest of one of the country’s wealthiest businessman on suspicion of large-scale tax evasion.

» Syria talks set to struggle despite foreign pressure
13/03/16 14:51 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Reuters: World News. BEIRUT/GENEVA (Reuters) - Syria peace talks due to begin in Geneva this week look set to struggle with the sides showing no sign of compromise over the issue at the heart of the five-y...

» Europe's Turkey Deal Takes Aim at Migrant Smugglers
13/03/16 14:50 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from WSJ.com: World News. The proposed migrant deal with Turkey marks the first serious attempt by the EU to destroy the people-smuggler’s business model, but its success faces big hurdles, Simon Nixon writes.

» Brazil Protesters Demand President's Removal
13/03/16 14:47 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World News - Breaking international news and headlines | Sky News. Demonstrators depicting Brazil's former President Lula da Silva and Brazil's President Rousseff attend a protest against Rousseff, part of...

» Kremlin calling? Meet the Russian pranksters who say 'Elton owes us'
13/03/16 13:18 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Russia | The Guardian. Duo who prank-called many influential critics of Russia deny links to its security services … but would they spoof Putin? Lexus and Vovan are fast gaining a reputation as the most mi...

» Lebanon Unveils Temporary Trash Crisis Solution
13/03/16 13:00 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Voice of America. Facing renewed protests over its months-long trash crisis, the Lebanese government on Saturday approved an emergency plan to open three landfills near Beirut. Information Minister Ramzi J...

» Kerry To Meet European Ministers In Paris Ahead Of Syria Talks
13/03/16 13:00 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. U.S.Secretary of State John Kerry was due to meet in Paris on March 13 with the foreign ministers of France, Britain, Italy, and Germany – along with EU foreign policy ch...

» Day 754: 2 Ukrainian Soldiers Killed in Battle with Russian-Backed Militants; Visitors Say Savchenko’s Health Improves
13/03/16 12:59 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from The Interpreter. LIVE UPDATES BELOW. Yesterday’s live coverage of the Ukraine conflict can be found here . READ OUR SPECIAL REPORT: An Invasion By Any Other Name: The Kremlin’s Dirty War in Ukraine &...

» Пушков назвал Обаму «утомленным солнцем» после интервью The Atlantic - Lenta.ru
13/03/16 12:59 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from В мире – Новости Google. Lenta.ru Пушков назвал Обаму «утомленным солнцем» после интервью The Atlantic Lenta.ru Глава комитета Госдумы России по международным делам Алексей Пушков охарактеризовал президент...

» Саакашвили рассказал, чего боится Яценюк - РИА Новости
13/03/16 12:58 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from В мире – Новости Google. РИА Новости Саакашвили рассказал, чего боится Яценюк РИА Новости Премьер-министр Украины не справился со своей работой и потерял доверие граждан страны. Теперь для Арсения Яценюка ...

» Russian Wikipedia shut down to protest censorship bill
13/03/16 12:58 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Europe. A proposed bill would create an Internet blacklist in Russia

» Власти США объяснили посмертную запись о выезде Лесина из страны - BBC Russian
13/03/16 12:56 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from В мире – Новости Google. BBC Russian Власти США объяснили посмертную запись о выезде Лесина из страны BBC Russian Служба таможенной и пограничной охраны США (CBP) объяснила появление учетной записи о выезд...

» Migration Hangs Over German Elections
13/03/16 12:55 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from NYT > Europe. As three states vote, the ascendance of a far-right party points to the strains from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s policy of accepting refugees.

» Iran Has No Plans To Join Russia-Saudi Oil Freeze Deal
13/03/16 12:55 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. Iran has said it has no plans to freeze its oil production, in a blow to a deal reached last month between Russia and Saudi Arabia to curb falling global oil prices.

» Al-Nusra Clashes With Syrian Rebels, Capturing Bases
13/03/16 12:55 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, the Al-Nusra Front, has seized bases and weapons from a Western-backed rebel group in fighting in northwestern Syria.

» Syria: President Assad's Ouster Is 'Red Line'
13/03/16 12:55 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Voice of America. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with his British, French, German and Italian counterparts Sunday in Paris about the Syria crisis, a day before the U.N.-sponsored Syrian peace talks...

» Касьянов получил от ФСБ ответ на жалобу по поводу «экстремистского» видеоролика Кадырова - Росбалт.RU
13/03/16 12:54 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from В мире – Новости Google. Росбалт.RU Касьянов получил от ФСБ ответ на жалобу по поводу «экстремистского» видеоролика Кадырова Росбалт.RU Экс-глава правительства РФ, председатель оппозиционной партии ПАРНАС ...

» Mikhail Lesin death: Vladimir Putin's propaganda chief reportedly flew out of LA 40 days after his death
13/03/16 12:54 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from The Independent - Europe. Alexei Navalny says the incident 'smells of a witness protection programme'

» Russia claims Turkish troops are on Syrian soil - Al-Arabiya
13/03/16 12:53 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Russia - Google News. Al-Arabiya Russia claims Turkish troops are on Syrian soil Al-Arabiya Russia has evidence that the Turkish army is on Syrian territory, Russian news agency Interfax reported the Kreml...

» Iran Rejects Russia-Saudi Oil Freeze Proposal - RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
13/03/16 12:53 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Russia - Google News. RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty Iran Rejects Russia -Saudi Oil Freeze Proposal RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty Iran has said it will not freeze its oil production, a blow to a proposal by R...

» Afghan Insurgent Group Says It Is Ready for Peace Talks
13/03/16 12:52 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Voice of America. An insurgent group fighting alongside Afghanistan’s Taliban has said it is ready to join political reconciliation talks with the Kabul government, despite being deeply skeptical about pea...

» Lavrov: Russia has evidence Turkish troops on Syrian territory - Jerusalem Post Israel News
13/03/16 12:52 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Russia - Google News. CBS News Lavrov: Russia has evidence Turkish troops on Syrian territory Jerusalem Post Israel News MOSCOW - Russia has evidence that Turkish armed forces are on Syrian territory, Russ...

» Russia has evidence Turkish troops on Syrian territory: Lavrov - Yahoo News
13/03/16 12:52 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Russia - Google News. Sputnik International Russia has evidence Turkish troops on Syrian territory: Lavrov Yahoo News MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia has evidence that Turkish armed forces are on Syrian territor...

» Russia claims Turkish troops entrenched in Syria - CBS News
13/03/16 12:51 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Russia - Google News. CBS News Russia claims Turkish troops entrenched in Syria CBS News ANKARA, Turkey - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says Russia has information that Turkey's military is entren...

» Russia says cessation of hostilities in Syria violated 29 times in past 24 hours - TODAYonline
13/03/16 12:51 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Russia - Google News. Russia says cessation of hostilities in Syria violated 29 times in past 24 hours TODAYonline MOSCOW - Russia's Defence Ministry said on Sunday a cessation of hostilities in Syria had ...

» Disinformation Warfare: US Officials Working to Keep Russia, Europe at Odds - Sputnik International
13/03/16 12:51 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Russia - Google News. Sputnik International Disinformation Warfare: US Officials Working to Keep Russia , Europe at Odds Sputnik International NATO Supreme Allied Commander Philip Breedlove recently took U...

» Лавров заявил об «окапывании» турецких солдат на сирийской территории - РБК
13/03/16 11:47 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from В мире – Новости Google. РБК Лавров заявил об «окапывании» турецких солдат на сирийской территории РБК Турецкие солдаты «окапываются» на сирийской территории. Об этом в интервью телеканалу «РЕН ТВ» рассказ...

» Endangered Przewalski's Horses Back On Russian Steppe
13/03/16 11:47 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. Conservationists in Russia say a small herd of endangered Przewalski's horses recently reintroduced in the Urals are enduring well their first winter in their new habitat...

» Адвокат депутата Резника обжаловал решение суда Испании о его розыске - Интерфакс
13/03/16 11:46 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from В мире – Новости Google. Интерфакс Адвокат депутата Резника обжаловал решение суда Испании о его розыске Интерфакс Москва. 13 марта. INTERFAX.RU - Защита депутата Госдумы от "Единой России" Влади...

» Libya's unity government claims power
12/03/16 19:22 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from BBC News - World. Libya's UN-backed Presidential Council, in Tunis, calls on the international community to stop dealing with any rival powers within Libya.

» Merkel defends migrant stance in last push before ‘Super Sunday’ elections
12/03/16 19:22 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World. The vote represents the German chancellor’s first electoral test of her refugee policy.

» Death of former Putin aide: conspiracy theories abound back home ...
12/03/16 19:22 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from world news - Google Blog Search. “Everything gets stranger and stranger,” Alexei Venediktov, the editor-in-chief of Ekho Moskvy radio wrote on Twitter about the news that Lesin had died of a bl...

» What Does Trump Mean for the G.O.P.? | Election 2016 | The New York Times
12/03/16 18:13 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from TheNewYorkTimes's YouTube Videos. From: TheNewYorkTimes Duration: 03:39 Republican voters we interviewed over the past six months expressed elation, frustration, happiness and fear over the impact one ...

» Obama to visit London in bid to keep UK in the EU: report
12/03/16 18:13 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Reuters: World News. LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama will come to London in April and urge British voters to back continued membership of the European Union, The Independent on Sunday newspa...

» US to Blame Iran for Cyber Attack on Small NY Dam - Fortune
12/03/16 18:13 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Cyber Warfare - Google News. Fortune US to Blame Iran for Cyber Attack on Small NY Dam Fortune The Obama administration is planning to publicly blame Iranian hackers for a 2013 cyber attack against a small...

» Corporate Sponsors Aim for Gold in 2016 Olympic Games
12/03/16 18:02 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Voice of America. Behind the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is another competitive sport: the olympics of marketing. Come August, international corporate sponsors will have just 17 days to...

» Torrential rains lead to unusually strong flooding in Louisiana and Mississippi - Washington Post
12/03/16 18:01 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Top Stories - Google News. Washington Post Torrential rains lead to unusually strong flooding in Louisiana and Mississippi Washington Post HATTIESBURG, Miss. — As the Leaf River rose north of Hattiesburg, ...

» Venezuela opposition launches protests
12/03/16 18:00 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from BBC News - World. Venezuela's opposition hold a day of nationwide protests at the start of a campaign to force President Nicolas Maduro from office.

» The Latest: 2nd escaped New Mexico inmate in custody - Lexington Herald Leader
12/03/16 18:00 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Top Stories - Google News. CBS News The Latest: 2nd escaped New Mexico inmate in custody Lexington Herald Leader Authorities stop motorists on U.S. 285 between Roswell and Artesia, N.M., as part of the hun...

» Libya's Presidential Council calls for transfer of power to unity government
12/03/16 17:59 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Reuters: World News. TUNIS (Reuters) - Libya's U.N.-backed Presidential Council called on Saturday on the country's institutions to begin a transfer of authority to a unity government, and appealed to the ...

» Report: Islamic State Forcing Enslaved Women To Use Birth Control
12/03/16 17:59 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. The New York Times is reporting that Islamic State radicals are using contraception to ensure enslaved women do not become pregnant and can be passed among its fighters a...

» Greece Struggling To Move Thousands Of Migrants From Muddy Tent City
12/03/16 17:59 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. Greece is struggling to move thousands of migrants trapped near the border with Macedonia, as an outbreak of Hepatitis A threatened a large-scale health crisis.

» ISIS is accused of chemical attack in Iraq that wounds hundreds, kills child
12/03/16 17:58 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World. BAGHDAD — The Islamic State launched two chemical attacks this week near the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, killing a toddler, wounding some 600 people and causing hundreds more to flee, Iraqi offic...

» How the Syrian revolt went so horribly, tragically wrong
12/03/16 17:58 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World. Five years on, calls for peaceful change have been eclipsed by war, death and persecution both by the government and extremists.

» Signs of Hope Five Years After Start of Syria's War - New York Times
12/03/16 16:28 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Top Stories - Google News. The Nation Signs of Hope Five Years After Start of Syria's War New York Times The cease-fire has brought new protests. Demonstrators shouted slogans against the government on Fri...

» Secret Service briefly surrounds Trump at Dayton rally
12/03/16 16:27 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from AP Top News at 3:14 p.m. EST. VANDALIA, Ohio (AP) -- Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump was briefly surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents on stage at a campaign rally in Ohio on Saturday,...

» Iraqi Officials: IS Launched Chemical Attacks Kill Child, Wound 600
12/03/16 16:27 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Voice of America. The Islamic State group has launched two chemical attacks near the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, killing a three-year-old girl, wounding 600 people and causing hundreds more to flee, Ira...

» 1 dead, 2 missing after tugboat crash on Hudson River
12/03/16 16:27 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from AP Top News at 3:14 p.m. EST. NEW YORK (AP) -- A tugboat crashed into a barge on the Hudson River north of New York City early Saturday, killing one crew member and leaving two missing....

» Secret Islamic State Files: 64 With Links To UK
12/03/16 16:27 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World News - Breaking international news and headlines | Sky News. Several Britons have been connected to IS training camps in Syria - including two young, married fathers from Manchester.

» Chicago violence overshadows Republican race as rivals vie to stop Donald Trump
12/03/16 16:27 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World news. Opponents accuse front-runner of stoking tensions with an uncompromising message that exploits racial tensions ahead of crucial votes on Tuesday

» Obama warns against US campaign anger
12/03/16 16:26 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from BBC News - World. President Barack Obama warns White House contenders to avoid fanning tensions, a day after a Donald Trump rally was called off amid clashes.

» Trump Shaken As Protester Tries To Storm Stage
12/03/16 16:26 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World News - Breaking international news and headlines | Sky News. Security guards swarm around the billionaire as he addresses supporters in Ohio, but his critics say he only has himself to blame.

» Israel calls on powers to punish Iran for its missile tests
12/03/16 16:25 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Reuters: World News. JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday called for world powers to take "immediate punitive steps" against Iran, following its ballistic missile tes...

» Opinion: How Saudi Arabia Turned Its Greatest Weapon on Itself
12/03/16 16:25 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from NYT > World. For decades, the kingdom used oil prices to wage economic war on its enemies. Now it’s the big casualty.

» Op-Ed Columnist: Where the Soldiers Are Scarier Than the Crocodiles
12/03/16 16:25 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from NYT > World. A South Sudanese boy fishing in the swamps of an island where his family took refuge when their village was attacked.

» Protester tries to storm stage at Donald Trump rally
12/03/16 16:25 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World news. Secret service agents leap to the rescue as campaign comes under intense scrutiny over angry rhetoric and violence

» Cruz says he would support Trump as GOP nominee
12/03/16 16:24 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Stars and Stripes News. Sen. Ted Cruz said he will support Donald Trump if is he the Republican nominee for president, despite stating that the businessman's campaign "affirmatively encourages violence" an...

» Syrian Firms Take Refuge Abroad---and Create Jobs
12/03/16 14:21 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from WSJ.com: World News. Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey see some economic rewards from being on the receiving end of Syria’s capital flight and brain drain.

» Protests Grow Against Brazilian President
12/03/16 14:21 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from WSJ.com: World News. Following spontaneous outbursts over the faltering economy and alleged corruption, groups are planning marches nationwide on Sunday against the government.

» Italian police: 6 dead in avalanche in Italian Alps
12/03/16 14:20 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World. Authorities say six backcountry skiers have died in an avalanche on Monte Nevoso in the Italian Alps.

» ISIS Chemical Attacks Wound 600, Iraqi Officials Say
12/03/16 14:20 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World – TIME. (BAGHDAD) — Iraqi officials say the Islamic State group has launched two chemical attacks, killing a three-year-old girl and wounding some 600 people near the northern city of Kirkuk. S...

» Donald Trump rally cancellation triggers protests and chaos - video
12/03/16 14:19 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World news + Video | The Guardian. Demonstrators and supporters of Donald Trump clash in the streets of Chicago after the Republican presidential candidate cancelled a rally on Friday citing safety concern...

» Donald Trump cancels Chicago rally amid protests - live
12/03/16 14:19 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World news. Republican candidate makes decision due to security reasons after meeting with police

» Turkey Is 'Sliding Backwards,' Says Top Turkish Novelist - Huffington Post
12/03/16 14:19 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World - Google News. Huffington Post Turkey Is 'Sliding Backwards,' Says Top Turkish Novelist Huffington Post "We have become a society of anger, paranoia [and] intimidation. And artists, writers, academic...

» Dead ex-Russian press minister may have been attacked outside hotel: source
12/03/16 14:17 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Reuters: World News. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Police are investigating whether former Russian Press Minister Mikhail Lesin, who was found dead in a Washington hotel in November, was brutally assaulted before...

» Man dead after tugboat, barge collide on Hudson River
12/03/16 13:56 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from AP Top News at 12:58 p.m. EST. NEW YORK (AP) -- One person is dead and two more are missing after authorities say a tugboat overturned and sunk on New York&apos;s Hudson River following a collision wit...

» North Korea warns of pre-emptive strikes against the South
12/03/16 13:54 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Stars and Stripes. North Korea said Saturday its military is ready to pre-emptively attack and "liberate" the South in its latest outburst against the annual joint military drills by the United States and ...

» Influx of Puerto Ricans could be game changer in Florida, country’s biggest swing state
12/03/16 13:53 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Stars and Stripes. The surging Puerto Rican electorate, a swing demographic in the nation’s quintessential swing state, supported Barack Obama for president but backed Charlie Crist for governor when he wa...

» To Maintain Supply of Sex Slaves, ISIS Pushes Birth Control
12/03/16 13:53 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from NYT > Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Modern methods allow the Islamic State to keep up its systematic rape of captives under medieval codes.

» Here's What Obama Said at SXSW About Apple vs. FBI - Fortune
12/03/16 13:51 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from fbi - Google News. Fortune Here's What Obama Said at SXSW About Apple vs. FBI Fortune “So the question now becomes, we as a society, setting aside the specific case between the FBI and Apple, setting aside...

» Source: Members Of Congress Dismayed By FBI Director's Lack Of Tech Knowledge - Fast Company
12/03/16 13:51 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from fbi - Google News. Source: Members Of Congress Dismayed By FBI Director's Lack Of Tech Knowledge Fast Company Members of the House Judiciary Committee were disappointed with the low level of technical know...

» Snowden says FBI doesn't really need Apple to unlock iPhone - MarketWatch
12/03/16 13:51 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from fbi - Google News. MarketWatch Snowden says FBI doesn't really need Apple to unlock iPhone MarketWatch He said the FBI is attempting to compel Apple to help unlock the iPhone out of convenience, not necess...

» France shuts down Hamas Al Aqsa TV for incitement
12/03/16 13:49 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from DEBKAFile. March 12, 2016, 3:36 PM (IDT) Paris acted in response to a request from Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to shut down the Hamas Al Aqsa TV station for anti-Israel and anti-Jewish incitement by ...

» The Gathering Storm Of The Chinese Military - Investor's Business Daily
12/03/16 13:49 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Cyber Warfare - Google News. Investor's Business Daily The Gathering Storm Of The Chinese Military Investor's Business Daily We don't have to guess at the intentions of the country that for more than four ...

» Another Point in Apple's Court; Ex CIA Director Against FBI - Tech News Today
12/03/16 13:48 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from cia - Google News. Tech News Today Another Point in Apple's Court; Ex CIA Director Against FBI Tech News Today During the interview, he added that he spent a lot of time with the FBI as CIA director, and h...

» Russia to probe possible meldonium 'provocations' against its athletes - Reuters
12/03/16 13:47 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Russia - Google News. Reuters Russia to probe possible meldonium 'provocations' against its athletes Reuters Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich told Russia's R-Sport agency that law enforcers ...

» Russia & China closing in: US fears losing air dominance to 'more ... - RT
12/03/16 13:47 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Russia - Google News. RT Russia & China closing in: US fears losing air dominance to 'more ... capable adversaries' RT Top US Air Force personnel have told the Senate they need more funds to modernize ...

» US, Russia to meet on Syria truce violations ahead of talks - Daily Mail
12/03/16 13:47 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Russia - Google News. Daily Mail US, Russia to meet on Syria truce violations ahead of talks Daily Mail Asked at the end of a visit to Saudi Arabia whether indirect dialogue in Geneva between the Syrian re...

» Far-right activists 'impersonated police to attack refugees for money and mobile phones' in Calais
12/03/16 13:46 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from The Independent - Europe. The group (not pictured) allegedly formed a chain to intercept asylum seekers trying to board lorries to the UK

» Московские суворовцы — лучшие в рукопашном бою
12/03/16 13:45 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from RSS. В ходе этапа спартакиады по военно-прикладным видам спорта среди воспитанников довузовских общеобразовательных учреждений юные спортсмены показали отличные результаты по АРБ и пулевой стрельбе.

» All Unquiet On The Tajik-Afghan Frontier
12/03/16 12:08 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. A murky security operation on Tajikistan's border with Afghanistan has brought attention briefly back to an area that for nearly 25 years has rarely seen an entire week p...

» Two French girls charged over 'concert hall terror plot'
12/03/16 12:08 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from The Independent - Europe. Teenage girls handed preliminary terrorism charges over plot to attack concert hall in Paris

» «Кошелек» положили в сейф КГБ - Новая газета
12/03/16 12:08 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from В мире – Новости Google. Новая газета «Кошелек» положили в сейф КГБ Новая газета В августе Юрий Чиж собирал арбузы вместе с Александром Лукашенко. За год до того — получал почетную грамоту из рук председат...

» Despite His Claims, Obama Was Not A Realist On Russia, Syria, And Libya
12/03/16 12:07 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from The Interpreter. President Obama, in the twilight of his career, did what every US President is expected to do, give a legacy defending interview . He defended his primary foreign policy ideas including th...

» Russia’s Post-Crimea Enthusiasm Wearing Off
12/03/16 11:31 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Institute of Modern Russia. Russia’s Post-Crimea Enthusiasm Wearing Off This post has been generated by Page2RSS

» Opinion: Stalinist Nostalgia in Vladimir Putin’s Russia
12/03/16 11:31 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from NYT > Europe. The gulag is a distant memory. In today’s Russia, people pine for an era of order and superpower status.

» Stalin, Russia's New Hero - New York Times
12/03/16 11:31 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Russia - Google News. New York Times Stalin, Russia's New Hero New York Times And yet views like Zhenya's are becoming more common in Russia . Polls show a gradual improvement in perceptions of Stalin, who...

» Afghan Air Force Not Ready Until 2020, Top US General Says
12/03/16 11:31 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Voice of America. The Afghan air force will not reach necessary strength levels until 2020, according to a top U.S. general. General John Campbell, who ended his command of U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanis...

» As UN Prepares to Resume Syrian Talks, US Condemns Cease-Fire Violations
12/03/16 11:31 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Voice of America. The United States on Friday condemned the Syrian government for hampering deliveries of humanitarian aid and for launching airstrikes that have reportedly hit civilians. The strongly word...

» Israeli Security Agents Shut Down Palestinian Media Operation
12/03/16 11:30 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Voice of America. Israeli police shut down a Palestinian media outlet in Ramallah on Friday, accusing it of using television and the Internet to incite violence. The Shin Bet security agency said the stati...

» Drone Technology Opens Up New Options for Photographers
12/03/16 11:29 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Voice of America. An interest in remote-controlled helicopters and a lot of practice helped Skye De Moya and Ross Shafer get their business off the ground in 2013. Based in Baltimore, Maryland, their compa...

» ЕС опубликовал решение о продлении санкций против России - ОРЕАНДА
12/03/16 11:29 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from В мире – Новости Google. ОРЕАНДА ЕС опубликовал решение о продлении санкций против России ОРЕАНДА ОРЕАНДА-НОВОСТИ. Решение о продлении до 15 сентября индивидуальных санкций против граждан и юридических лиц...

» Сноуден вновь рассказал о желании вернуться в США - Lenta.ru
12/03/16 11:28 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from В мире – Новости Google. Lenta.ru Сноуден вновь рассказал о желании вернуться в США Lenta.ru Бывший сотрудник американских спецслужб Эдвард Сноуден заявил, что намерен продолжать заниматься разоблачениями ...

» Russia, China oppose US missile-defense in South Korea - KMOV.com
12/03/16 11:28 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Russia - Google News. KMOV.com Russia , China oppose US missile-defense in South Korea KMOV.com Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told a news conference Friday after meeting with Russian counterpart Sergey ...

» As Ankara Eyes Tougher Visa Rules, Neighbors Fret
12/03/16 11:28 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. The EU's drive to get Turkey to toughen its visa regulations to help resolve the migrant crisis is giving regional businessmen reason to worry.

» Poland Still Refuses To Honor Constitutional Court Ruling
12/03/16 11:27 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. Poland's government says it is still refusing to publish a ruling by the Constitutional Tribunal, which struck down key legislation that has blocked the work of the court.

» Two Ukrainian Soldiers Killed In Eastern Ukraine
12/03/16 11:27 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. The Ukrainian military says two of its soldiers were killed in clashes between government forces and pro-Russia separatists in southeast Ukraine over the past 24 hours.

» Turkish President Erdogan threatens court's 'existence' after it releases two journalists
12/03/16 11:26 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from The Independent - Europe. The court's ruling was 'against the country', he said

» Turkish Air Strikes Kills 67 Kurdish Militants in Iraq
12/03/16 11:26 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Voice of America. Turkey's air force has carried out air strikes against Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq, killing at least 67 militants, the military said Saturday. The March 9 raids were carried ou...

» Italy avalanche: Six dead and others injured in mountain slides in Alps
12/03/16 11:25 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from The Independent - Europe. Rescue teams are currently searching for others trapped in the snow

» Today's Headlines and Commentary
12/03/16 09:19 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Lawfare - Hard National Security Choices. Yesterday, news broke that an Islamic State defector has been disclosing inside information about the terrorist group’s inner bureaucracy. The New York Times share...

» Paris attackers 'named in IS files'
11/03/16 18:44 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from BBC News - World. The names of three men who carried out the Paris attacks in November appear in files leaked from the Islamic State militant group, according to German media.

» EU refugee deal hits setback as Cyprus objects to Turkey bid
11/03/16 18:43 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from The Independent - Europe. Under the planned deal, Turkey would take back Syrian refugees who land in Greece in exchange for €6bn in aid

» United States accuses Apple of 'false,' 'corrosive' rhetoric in Federal Bureau of Investigation dispute - Examiner Gazette
11/03/16 18:43 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from james b. comey - Google News. Examiner Gazette United States accuses Apple of 'false,' 'corrosive' rhetoric in Federal Bureau of Investigation dispute Examiner Gazette In its filing, the federal government...

» Ex-CIA Director: Does Donald Trump understand the role of ... - Fox News
11/03/16 18:43 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from cia - Google News. Fox News Ex-CIA Director: Does Donald Trump understand the role of ... Fox News Recently I had a chance to comment on some policy proposals put forward by Donald Trump. I really didn't t...

» US ambassador calls Iran missile tests provocative
11/03/16 18:42 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from www.washingtontimes.com stories: Security. UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations says Iran's recent ballistic missile launches are "provocative and destabilizing." Samantha Power,...

» Obama weighs in on Apple v. FBI: “You can't take an absolutist view” - Ars Technica
11/03/16 18:42 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from fbi - Google News. Daily Beast Obama weighs in on Apple v. FBI : “You can't take an absolutist view” Ars Technica AUSTIN, Texas—In his keynote address at the 2016 South By Southwest conference, President B...

» Syrians see few prospects for peace from Geneva talks
11/03/16 18:41 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Reuters: World News. IDLIB, Syria/DAMASCUS (Reuters) - As peace talks are set to get under way in Geneva next week, residents in Syria from nurses to street vendors voice little optimism over the United Na...

» Brazilian president refuses to resign
11/03/16 18:41 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from BBC News - World. The Brazilian President, Dilma Rousseff, insists she will not resign over her alleged mishandling of the economy after moves to impeach her.

» EU Agrees to Framework With Cuba on Closer Ties - Wall Street Journal
11/03/16 18:41 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World - Google News. Wall Street Journal EU Agrees to Framework With Cuba on Closer Ties Wall Street Journal BRUSSELS—The European Union reached agreement with Cuba on Friday on a new framework allowing cl...

» FDA says GMO mosquito likely OK to fight Zika in Florida - CNN
11/03/16 18:40 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Top Stories - Google News. CNN FDA says GMO mosquito likely OK to fight Zika in Florida CNN (CNN) The U.S. came one step closer today to getting its first genetically modified mosquito to fight the Zika vi...

» US: No significant impact from field test of genetically modified mosquitoes - West Hawaii Today
11/03/16 18:40 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Top Stories - Google News. West Hawaii Today US: No significant impact from field test of genetically modified mosquitoes West Hawaii Today MIAMI (AP) — A field trial releasing genetically modified mosquit...

» Cuba and Europe sign deal normalizing relations
11/03/16 18:38 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World. Cuba and the European Union have signed a deal normalizing their relations after years of tensions spawned by disagreement over human rights on the island.

» Why the U.S.-U.K. Relationship Is Less Special than Ever
11/03/16 18:38 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World – TIME. Almost 70 years to the day since Winston Churchill immortalized the term in his historic ‘ Sinews of Peace ’ address, the “special relationship” between the U.K. and U...

» Non-aligned countries reject US sanctions on Venezuela
11/03/16 18:37 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World. Venezuela’s U.N. ambassador has read out a statement from a group of 120 developing countries rejecting President Barack Obama’s decision to renew sanctions on several of his country’s top officials.

» Russia seeks details on aide's US death
11/03/16 18:36 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from BBC News - World. Russian officials criticise a lack of communication by the US authorities over the death of Mikhail Lesin, a former aide to President Putin.

» Kerry arrives in Saudi for talks on Syria, Yemen wars
11/03/16 18:22 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from www.washingtontimes.com stories: Security. HAFR AL-BATIN, Saudi Arabia (AP) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry landed Friday at a sprawling military facility in northeastern Saudi Arabia where the kingdo...

» Iran to Be Blamed for Cyberattack on New York Dam, U.S. Official Says
11/03/16 18:21 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Washington Free Beacon. A criminal probe by the Justice Department has concluded that Iran was behind a cyberattack on a dam outside of New York City in 2013. According to the  Associated Press , a U.S. of...

» Pentagon Won’t Hold Captured ISIS Fighters Beyond 30 Days
11/03/16 18:21 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Washington Free Beacon. The Pentagon said Friday that it will not hold captured ISIS operatives beyond 30 days, after which they will be turned over to the Iraqi government. “Fourteen to 30 days is a ballp...

» Poland turns from model of democracy into European problem
11/03/16 18:20 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Stars and Stripes. For years, Poland was considered a model of democratic transformation, with Lech Walesa's peaceful revolution heralding a new era based on the rule of law.

» Purported banker in New York admits he was actually a Russian spy
11/03/16 18:20 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Stars and Stripes. A man posing as a banker in the United States admitted Friday he was actually a Russian spy helping run a conspiracy that could have been ripped from the headlines of the Cold War era, p...

» Moscow’s Desire to Micro-Manage the North Caucasus Causing Multiple Inefficiencies
11/03/16 18:19 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from North Caucasus Analysis - The Jamestown Foundation. On February 19, the governor of North Ossetia–Alania, Tamerlan Aguzarov, suddenly died at a Moscow hospital from complications of pneumonia. The 52-year-...

» Chechens Fighting in Syria Increasingly Joining Forces With Islamic State
11/03/16 18:19 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from North Caucasus Analysis - The Jamestown Foundation. Chechen militants in Syria have been going through organizational changes since last summer. The position of the Chechen militants in the Middle East was...

» Kadyrov at Loggerheads With Chechen Diaspora in Europe
11/03/16 18:18 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from North Caucasus Analysis - The Jamestown Foundation. Ramzan Kadyrov has repeatedly voiced discontent with the actions of Chechens who reside in Europe. During the first years of his rule in Chechnya, he man...

» Chechnya’s Planned New Oil Refinery Marks a Victory Over Rosneft
11/03/16 18:18 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from North Caucasus Analysis - The Jamestown Foundation. Many analysts say the two wars in Chechnya in the 1990s were caused by the republic’s oil. These analysts, however, have tended to overlook the fact that...

» FBI channels Kafka with new rules on slurping Americans' private ... - The Register
11/03/16 18:17 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from fbi - Google News. The Register FBI channels Kafka with new rules on slurping Americans' private ... The Register Comment The murky world of surveillance turned a little more Kafkaesque this week. The FBI ...

» Minister of Defense of Georgia Continues to ‘Knock at NATO’s Door’
11/03/16 18:16 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Eurasia Daily Monitor - The Jamestown Foundation. Georgia’s newly appointed Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze recently visited the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), where he h...

» Berlin, Paris Side With Moscow Against Kyiv In Normandy Group’s Meeting
11/03/16 18:16 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Eurasia Daily Monitor - The Jamestown Foundation. As anticipated (see EDM , February 26), the “Normandy” meeting on March 3–4, in Paris, cornered Ukraine to extract its acceptance of “elections” in the Rus...

» Death of Top Chechen IS Commander May Change the Face of the Syrian Insurgency
11/03/16 18:16 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Eurasia Daily Monitor - The Jamestown Foundation. On March 5, in the fighting for the city of al-Shaddadi in eastern Syria, one of the most influential commanders of the so-called Islamic State (IS), Tarkh...

» Germany, Norway Eye Joint Submarine Procurement
11/03/16 18:15 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Defense News - Home. Norway plans to complete the definition phase for procurement of submarines in the first half of this year and may consider a joint purchase with another country.       ...

» NATO, European Commission Chiefs Hail Cooperation on Security, Migrant Crisis
11/03/16 18:15 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Defense News - Home. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker have discussed ways to increase joint work to counter hybrid threats in several areas, inc...

» Two Israelis injured in shooting attack on car on Rte 443
11/03/16 18:14 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from DEBKAFile. March 11, 2016, 10:26 PM (IDT) A Palestinian drive-by vehicle opened fire on an Israeli car driving on Rte 443 near the Beit Horon checkpoint Friday night. Two young men in the car were inj...

» Missile alert in Israel locations around Gaza Strip
11/03/16 18:14 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from DEBKAFile. March 11, 2016, 10:38 PM (IDT) Palestinian rocket fire sets off red alert in Israeli locations around the Gaza Strip Friday night, according to first reports.  

» Chicago Psychiatrist Who Took Kickbacks to Prescribe Mental Health Medication Sentenced to Nine Months in Federal Prison
11/03/16 18:13 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Current. — Chicago

» Ex-CIA director: Apple 'generally in the right' on encryption, FBI not 'very good telephone designers' - 9 to 5 Mac
11/03/16 18:12 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from cia - Google News. 9 to 5 Mac Ex- CIA director: Apple 'generally in the right' on encryption, FBI not 'very good telephone designers' 9 to 5 Mac Speaking with CNBC's Squawk Box, former CIA director James W...

» Ex-CIA director: Apple 'generally in the right' on encryption, FBI not ...
11/03/16 18:12 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from cia - Google Blog Search. Speaking with CNBC's Squawk Box, former CIA director James Woolsey gave his personal thoughts on the FBI's request to have Apple unlock an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino...

» Russia seeks US documents in millionaire's death - USA TODAY
11/03/16 18:11 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Russia - Google News. USA TODAY Russia seeks US documents in millionaire's death USA TODAY Russia's prosecutor general has asked U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch for documents regarding the mysterious d...

» Russia to disarm world's largest nuclear ballistic missile submarine - RT
11/03/16 18:11 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Russia - Google News. RT Russia to disarm world's largest nuclear ballistic missile submarine RT Working in accordance with the New START treaty between Russia and US, the country's leading Zvezdochka ship...

» Mikhail Lesin death: Vladimir Putin's propaganda chief died from 'blunt force' – not heart attack as was suggested
11/03/16 18:10 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from The Independent - Europe. An autopsy found Mikhail Lesin suffered head injuries

» Russian spy pleads guilty in New York to posing as a banker
11/03/16 18:10 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Russian news, all the latest and breaking Russia news. Evgeny Buryakov faces a decade in prison after admitting working for the Russian secret service

» Mystery Of Lesin's Death Deepens As Russia Asks US For More Information
11/03/16 18:10 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. The mystery surrounding Mikhail Lesin, the former Russian press minister who died in Washington after suffering blunt force trauma to the head, deepened as news reports s...

» German broadcaster: Islamic State files refer to some Paris attackers
11/03/16 14:55 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Stars and Stripes. A cache of leaked documents containing the names of recruits into the Islamic State group includes references to several of the men who carried out the November attacks in Paris, a Germa...

» Russian Spy Pleads Guilty, Walked Into FBI 'Trap' - ABC News
11/03/16 14:54 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Top Stories - Google News. New York Daily News Russian Spy Pleads Guilty, Walked Into FBI 'Trap' ABC News A Russian spy, who posed as a banker in New York City, today pleaded guilty to espionage-related ch...

» Arab League says Hezbollah 'terrorists'
11/03/16 14:53 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from BBC News - World. The Arab League declares the Lebanese Shia Muslim movement Hezbollah a terrorist organisation, following a move by Arab Gulf states a week ago.

» Зика продолжает наступление
11/03/16 14:31 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from golosamerikius's YouTube Videos. From: golosamerikius Duration: 01:23 Эпидемию лихорадки Зика пока остановить не удается, но определенный прогресс уже заметен – во всяком случае, в лабораториях.