Wednesday, February 27, 2013

"Foreign Affairs" Review:The End of the 'Reset' - via Russia & FSU

via Russia & FSU on 2/27/13
Why Putin's Re-Election Means Turbulence Ahead
March 1, 2012
Andrew C. Kuchins
Summary:
It is hardly novel for Putin and his regime to blur domestic opposition with treason and terrorism, then claim that foreign support is the culprit. What is new today is Putin’s own insecurity about the future of his hold on power, which will make his foreign policy as president more unpredictable.

(Wolfgang Wildner / flickr)
When it comes to Russia's political future, the only guarantee is uncertainty. Yes, on Sunday Vladimir Putin will be elected president of Russia for a six-year term, with a comfortable majority of the vote. Yes, too, huge numbers of demonstrators, probably more than a hundred thousand, will take to the streets the next day to protest.
What will happen after that, however, is difficult to predict.
Beyond asserting Russia's destiny to be an independent and truly sovereign major power, Putin lacks a real strategy and prefers to repeat long-held complaints about the United States.

via Russia & FSU on 2/27/13
Parliamentary Elections and the Reawakening of Russian Politics
December 8, 2011
Kathryn Stoner-Weiss
Summary:
With its entrenched advantages, the Kremlin's United Russia party should be safe for now -- but if Vladimir Putin doesn't acknowledge the widespread dissatisfaction with his rule, he may soon find that force is the only way to preserve his regime.

(World Economic Forum / flickr)
Russia's parliamentary election last Sunday saw Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's party, United Russia, receive slightly less than 50 percent of the popular vote. In most countries, this would be viewed as a stunning victory. Instead, it is being interpreted by the Russian and Western press as a rebuke by a restive Russian public to Putin and his policies.
The opposition parties that gained seats are no real opposition, at all. Any true opposition forces were weeded out far in advance of Sunday's elections.

via Russia & FSU on 2/27/13
The Kremlin's Ham-handed Effort to Squelch Online Dissent
December 9, 2011
Andrei Soldatov
Summary:
In the wake of Sunday's contested parliamentary elections, the Russian security services have made obvious and clumsy efforts to shut down independent news sources. But controlling information online will prove impossible, and continued attempts to do so will only backfire.
Early on Tuesday morning, my Web site, Agentura.ru, which covers the activities of Russia's secret services, was shut down by a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. My technical staff and I were forced to reset the site's server every 15 minutes, but it didn't help: the site was down for the most of the day.
Although the combination of hacker attacks and pressure from the state might be frightening, neither can inflict too much damage.

via Russia & FSU on 2/27/13
The Opposition's Bourgeois Balancing Act
March 8, 2012
Joshua Yaffa
Summary:
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's electoral victory last Sunday has left his opposition in a tough spot. Its next logical move is to step up the fight against Putin, since the Kremlin is unlikely to make any concessions now. But that strategy risks alienating the very group that gives the movement its strength: middle-class Russians.

via Russia & FSU on 2/27/13
Letter From Moscow
March 14, 2012
Angus Roxburgh
Summary:
The speeches at the protests last weekend were uninspiring and off-message. By focusing on vote-rigging, which was not nearly as prevalent as in other recent elections, organizers sidelined themselves.

via Russia & FSU on 2/27/13
The Perils of Serving as Ambassador to Russia
April 17, 2012
Timothy Naftali
Summary:
It's never been easy to represent the United States in Moscow, especially if you're a Russian-speaking public intellectual who has criticized the Kremlin. The story of two U.S. ambassadors to Russia, George Kennan and Michael McFaul.

5:08 PM: Welceom [sic] to my life. Press has right to film me anywhere. But do they have a right to read my email and listen to my phone?
5:14 PM: When I asked these "reporters" how they knew my schedule, I got no answer. Heard the same silence when they met me after meeting w/[Anatoly] Chubais.
1:15 AM: Just watched NTV. I mispoke [sic] in bad Russian. Did not mean to say "wild country." Meant to say NTV actions "wild." I greatly respect Russia.

It has never been easy to represent the United States in Moscow, but the job is especially difficult if you happen to be a public intellectual who speaks Russian well. Sixty years ago, U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union George Kennan requested -- and received -- suicide pills from the CIA out of fear that he might be arrested and tortured by Joseph Stalin’s agents. There is no reason to be as concerned for Ambassador Michael McFaul’s safety in Vladimir Putin’s Russia today. Yet McFaul’s lashing out last month, after the state-controlled television channel NTV started sending cameramen to dog his every move, suggests a few troubling similarities with Kennan’s experiences in 1952 and may also signal a new worsening of Washington’s relations with the Kremlin. President Harry Truman, like President Barack Obama, dispatched the well-known architect of his Russia policy to Moscow as ambassador and hoped for the best. Kennan, who predicted that the Soviet system would eventually collapse, recommended a policy of containing the Kremlin’s power until that collapse occurred. Writing pseudonymously as “X,” Kennan outlined his thinking in Foreign Affairs in July 1947; by 1952, he had publicly acknowledged writing the article. Not one to cherish the give and take of intellectual discourse, Stalin probably did not consider the appointment of a public critic as a friendly act...

 

via Russia & FSU on 2/27/13
How the Kremlin Accidentally Liberalized Russia's Natural Gas Market
May 6, 2012
Ahmed Mehdi
Summary:
In the coming years, Gazprom won’t be able to rely on high profit margins to stay at the top of the energy business. And Putin won’t be able to rely on Gazprom as a source of power.

Putin signs a pipe during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the 'Dalneye' gas-distribution station. (Courtesy Reuters)
Things look bad for Gazprom but it is inconceivable that the company will simply disappear; it is just too big and owns too many subsidiaries.

via Russia & FSU on 2/27/13
Before Beijing There Was Moscow
May 10, 2012
Gal Beckerman
Summary:
For the Soviets, accepting that malcontents could be found in their communist paradise undermined their worldview, so sending them abroad was a way of putting them out of mind. China’s approach to dissidents today comes more from defensiveness about its status as world leader.

The Soviet physicist and Nobel prize winner Andrei Sakharov arrives at Paris's Orly airport under the watchful eye of frontier police December 9, 1988. (Courtesy Reuters)

via Russia & FSU on 2/27/13
The Mind and the State of Russia’s President
July 1, 2012
Joshua Yaffa
With Vladimir Putin back in power in Russia, understanding him is more important than ever. Two recent books attempt to unravel the mystery, adding new insight into the Russian leader's life and rule. But by trying to comprehend Putin through his personal history, they miss the true heart of the story: the state he built.



via Russia & FSU on 2/27/13
Discontent Grows in the Hinterlands
September 1, 2012
Mikhail Dmitriev and Daniel Treisman
Summary:
Moscow’s anti-Putin protesters have captured the world’s attention. But does their message resonate outside the big cities? New research shows that although Russians in the provinces have no taste for revolution, noisy street protests, or abstract slogans, they are deeply unhappy with the current political system and may soon demand change themselves.
Russians outside Moscow and St. Petersburg are far from content with the current political system.
Russians realize that repairing the state will take more than just throwing money at corrupt bureaucrats.
The Kremlin's goal is to cast the antigovernment protesters as a cabal of feminist punks, church desecraters, and sexual deviants.

via Russia & FSU on 2/27/13
September 4, 2012
See video
Managing Editor Jonathan Tepperman interviews author Alexander Cooley on the geopolitics of Central Asia and how outside powers--Russia, China, and the United States--are competing for influence in the region, as the British and Russian empires did a century ago. As the great powers attempt to exert their influence, the Central Asian states are becoming more aggressive and strategic when facing external pressure. This New Great Game could indicate how regional dynamics will play out in a modern multipolar world.
Managing Editor Jonathan Tepperman interviews author Alexander Cooley on the geopolitical role of Central Asia, and how outside powers--Russia, China, and the United States--are competing for influence in the region, as the British and Russian empires did a century ago.
Jonathan D. Tepperman and Alexander Cooley
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via Russia & FSU on 2/27/13
Why the Rest Stopped Rising
October 22, 2012
Ruchir Sharma
Summary:
The most talked-about global economic trend in recent years has been “the rise of the rest,” with Brazil, Russia, India, and China leading the charge. But international economic convergence is a myth. Few countries can sustain unusually fast growth for a decade, and even fewer, for more than that. Now that the boom years are over, the BRICs are crumbling; the international order will change less than expected.

via Russia & FSU on 2/27/13
To Victor Go The Spoils
October 23, 2012
Alexander J. Motyl and Rajan Menon
Summary:
Just about everyone expects the October 28 election to result in a victory for the ruling Party of Regions. The result will be a further erosion of democracy, greater instability, and Kiev's drift toward Moscow.
Table tennis rackets with pictures of Ukraine's President Yanukovych. (Gleb Garanich / Courtesy Reuters)
On October 28, Ukrainians will go to the polls for parliamentary elections. Just about everyone in the country believes that the result will be a victory for the ruling Party of Regions (PR), which, at first glance, would seem to reinforce the legitimacy of the increasingly authoritarian president, Viktor Yanukovych.

via Russia & FSU on 2/27/13
How Oil Is Holding Russia Back—and How It Could Save It
October 24, 2012
Thane Gustafson
Summary:
Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia has become increasingly addicted to oil, which has underwritten bad policies and allowed Putin to buy off key constituencies and the masses. But petroleum could also hold the key to Russia’s salvation. The supply of cheap oil is running out, and Russia’s best hope of responding to the coming crunch is making the sort of changes liberal reformers have been pushing for years.

via Russia & FSU on 2/27/13
Letter From Moscow
November 5, 2012
Dmitri Trenin
Summary:
In Russia, Obama's attempt to "reset" U.S.-Russian relations, his negotiation of a bilateral arms treaty, and his easing of Russia's entry into the WTO give him the edge.
Override

via Russia & FSU on 2/27/13
1989 and the Fall of Communism
November 29, 2012
Philip D. Zelikow
Twenty years after the revolutions of 1989 brought down communism in Eastern Europe, a fresh crop of books attempts to unpack this epic story. The story these books tell is more of a civil war within the elite than of a revolt from below.

via Russia & FSU on 2/27/13
The False Promise of Westernization in Georgia
December 5, 2012
Thomas de Waal
Summary:
Nine years after Georgia's Rose Revolution, its leader, Mikheil Saakashvili, was soundly defeated in parliamentary elections by the country's richest man. As the hope of the Rose Revolution fades, so, too, should the myth that Georgia is or ever will be a fully Westernized country.
Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili on election day. (David Mdzinarishvili / Courtesy Reuters)

via Russia & FSU on 2/27/13
Iran and Israel Fight for Influence in Azerbaijan
January 15, 2013
Alex Vatanka
Summary:
The standoff between Iran and the West has moved into the Caucasus, where both the Islamic Republic and Israel are trying to woo Azerbaijan -- a country with firm historical connections to Iran but whose interests have overlapped with those of Israel. The dynamic is upsetting the regional balance of power and threatening to overturn nearly two decades of uneasy peace.
A mosque and the city waterfront are reflected in a new building in Baku (David Mdzinarishvili / Courtesy Reuters)

Mike Nova: Famed American classical pianist Van Cliburn died ...

Mike Nova: Famed American classical pianist Van Cliburn died ...: Famed classical pianist Van Cliburn dies at 78 via Steve Rothaus' Gay South Florida by Steve Rothaus on 2/27/13 Famed Ameri...

PUERTO RICO NEWS: 2.27.13: Russian cultural center opens in Puerto R...

PUERTO RICO NEWS: 2.27.13: Russian cultural center opens in Puerto R...: Russian cultural center opens in Puerto Rico Tags: Society , News , World , Puerto Rico Feb 26, 2013 11:01 Moscow Time © P...

Wednesday, February 27, 2013



2.27.13: Russian cultural center opens in Puerto Rico | Russian cultural centers - spying centers - GS


Russian cultural center opens in Puerto Rico

Feb 26, 2013 11:01 Moscow Time
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A ceremony in honor of the opening of a Russian cultural center in Puerto Rico took place in San Juan on Tuesday.

The gem of the newly opened center is its rich library which has thousands of books, including textbooks, reference books and works by Russian literary classics.
The center’s cinema house offers a wide collection of films about Russia while its computer rooms provide visitors with comprehensive information about the Russian history and culture and the country’s political and social life.
Speakers at the opening ceremony said that the center should provide Russian children adopted by Puerto Ricans with an opportunity to learn more about Russia and maintain connection with their homeland.
Voice of Russai, RIA

RUSSIA and THE WEST - РОССИЯ и ЗАПАД


News and Opinions - Новости и Мнения: A blog about Russia and her relations with The West
2.21.13: Swaying the Opinions of the Russian Diaspora - Heritage.org | Арсенал средств традиционный — перекупить алчных, запугать боязливых, изолировать упрямых." - Подрабинек Александр | В России каждый год умирает до 300 усыновленных детей, однако к ответственности в связи с их гибелью практически никто не привлекается - Grani.Ru | Павел Астахов поменял показания // В Техасе не спешат делать выводы о причинах смерти Максима Кузьмина | U.S. Policy on Russia for Obama’s Second Term - By Ariel Cohen, Ph.D. | Russia Goes Back To The Future - Strategy Page - Mike Nova's starred items

Swaying the Opinions of the Russian Diaspora - Heritage.org

June 21, 2012

For the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian diaspora is no longer viewed as necessarily anti-Communist or hostile to the Kremlin. Moscow now actively seeks to curry favor with its emigrants and make them its emissaries. Using its embassies, government websites, and a network of establishments that promote Russian language and culture, its efforts to use public diplomacy to bring the Russian diaspora back into the Russian world are growing. Intelligence experts indicate, however, that since the days of the USSR, such efforts have been closely linked to Russia’s intelligence activities, including talent-spotting, recruitment, and operations of human intelligence (HUMINT) assets.

Russia is also monitoring and manipulating its domestic social media. The government leadership understands that social networking is one of the freest modes of exchange between Russians and the outside world, and it does not want to lose control of the message that Russia is a great power.

Organizations that track global Internet freedom have documented growing intimidation from Moscow of those who are critical of the Kremlin online.[51]

Without a strategy to counteract this increasingly aggressive campaign to win hearts and minds, the United States will continue to find its own messages poorly received by Russians and its interests undermined.

via Алексon 2/13/13

Для http://patriofil.ru/


"...В России еще не было ни одного уголовного дела, в котором был признан факт совершения преступления в отношении ЛГБТ по мотиву ненависти. Уголовные дела... прекращаются, а потерпевшему дается разъяснение, что... необходимо обратиться в мировой суд", из доклада Ассоциации "Агора". 58 случаев насилия в отношении...
Мотивы ненависти и вражды - основа насилия по отношению к геям в России
"...В России еще не было ни одного уголовного дела, в котором был признан факт совершения преступления в отношении ЛГБТ по мотиву ненависти. Уголовные дела ... прекращаются, а потерпевшему дается разъяснение, что ... необходимо обратиться в мировой суд", из доклада Ассоциации "Агора".
58 случаев насилия в отношении геев и лесбиянок проанализировали юристы Межрегиональной правозащитной Ассоциации "Агора". В них пострадали сотни геев и лесбиянок. В 50 из зарегистрированных инцидентов правозащитники с уверенностью говорят о мотиве ненависти и вражды.

Накануне юристы-правозащитники распространили большой доклад, в котором называют "представителей власти", в основном депутатов разного уровня, - "существенным генератором и провокатором преступлений ненависти в отношении геев и лесбиянок". Они считают, что властные структуры "...подыгрывают радикальным и экстремистски настроенным группам россиян".

"Власти, сознательно не исполняя своих функций по защите законных прав и свобод ЛГБТ, более того, наказывая их за отстаивание своих прав, посылают недвусмысленный сигнал этой группе граждан России, которая насчитывает около семи миллионов человек, о том, что они поражены в своих неотъемлемых конституционных правах", - говорится в докладе. Фактически распространение насилия по отношению к геям и лесбиянкам говорит о существовании самой большой угрозы базовым принципам защиты личности, которую испытывает Россия после распада СССР.

В докладе также отмечается, что сегодня в России "тема прав геев и лесбиянок вышла на первый план повестки дня и ...является одной из передовых линий противостояния либералов и консерваторов...".
ЛГБТ. Вне правового поля России. Доклад Межрегиональной правозащитной Ассоциации "Агора"
 

2.27.13: What exploded over Russia? Watch two videos with new answers - EarthSky (blog) | 'Gay propaganda' bill proves divisive in Russia - BBC News | Litvinenko lawyer accuses UK of cover up to help Russia ties - Reuters


via Russia - Google News on 2/26/13



Litvinenko lawyer accuses UK of cover up to help Russia ties
Reuters
LONDON (Reuters) - The lawyer for the family of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko, who was murdered in London in 2006, accused Britain and Russia on Tuesday of colluding to try and shut down an inquiry into his death for the sake of trade links.

and more »

Marina Litvinenko, the wife of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko arrives for a hearing at the High Court in LondonLONDON (Reuters) - The lawyer for the family of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko, who was murdered in London in 2006, accused Britain and Russia on Tuesday of colluding to try and shut down an inquiry into his death for the sake of trade links. Litvinenko, who had been granted British citizenship and become a vocal critic of the Kremlin, died after someone slipped polonium-210, a rare radioactive isotope, into his cup of tea at a London hotel. The fallout from his death has beleaguered diplomatic relations between London and Moscow ever since. ...

Iran's lame-duck president, Mahmud Ahmadinejad, has tapped a doctoral graduate of North Korea's most elite university and the purported architect of a "national intranet" to head the Communications and Information Technology Ministry.

via The Moscow Times Top Stories by Reuters <moscowtimes@themoscowtimes.com> on 2/26/13
Russia's Rosneft plans to cut volumes of crude it sells through its biggest six-month tender by almost a third, traders said Monday, as the state oil major prepares to clinch an oil-for-loans deal with traders Glencore and Vitol.

via The Moscow Times Top Stories by The Associated Press <moscowtimes@themoscowtimes.com> on 2/26/13
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday rejected criticism from the Dutch government and the European Union about proposed legislation that would outlaw "homosexual propaganda."

Since September 11, 2001, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has claimed many victories in the war on terror. Each time a domestic terror suspect is arrested, the public is told that another horrific plot has been averted. But after combing through thousands of pages of court documents, investigative journalist Trevor Aaronson came to a different conclusion -- that most of the men arrested could never have done what they were accused of if the FBI hadn’t given them the tools to do ...

via World news: Russia | guardian.co.uk by Marie Jégo on 2/26/13
Resurgence of traditional southern Russian guardsmen echoes Putin's orthodox, autocratic and nationalist ideal
A motley battalion is trooping the colours in the snowy yard at the Cossack military school near Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad), nearly 1,000km south-east of Moscow. Aged seven to 17, the cadets, wearing camouflage clothing and matching hats, are standing to attention in a line. They are preparing for the ceremony to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Red Army's decisive victory over the Germans, watched by President Vladimir Putin.
Obeying orders from their instructor, they turn their eyes right, then left, finally staring straight ahead at the flags blowing in the wind: the colours of Russia and the Nedorubovskaya stanitsa (Cossack settlement) that runs the school, only a few kilometres from the banks of the river Don, in the Cossack heartland.
Cheeks are rosy on this icy morning, but most of the 320 cadets will be going home to their families after a tough schedule of study, military training, singing and prayers.
The cadets file into the refectory, say grace and eat their meal in silence. In the entrance to the boarding house, the Cossacks' commandments set the tone: "Love Russia, for she is your mother and no one will ever replace her", or indeed "Those who march against the Motherland are your enemies".
The headmaster, Vladlen Stratulat, is proud of his recruits: "We have a 90% success rate in the unified state examination [at the end of secondary education]," he says. The curriculum is the same as elsewhere in the Russian Federation, but with military and patriotic training as an extra.
The school has a good reputation. The buildings are modern and the extensive grounds are perfect for exercising and of course riding, essential for true Cossacks. With their military training, the cadets hope to enter the army, police or intelligence service. What is more, the school is free. "Apart from buying the basic uniform, families pay nothing. We supply the ceremonial uniform, teaching, moral education, board and lodging," says Alexander Nikolaevich, the head of the teaching staff. Almost all the funding is provided by the ministry of nationalities and nearby Cossack communities.
The school, which opened in 2009, is a symbol of Cossack resurgence. Almost a century after they were nearly destroyed by the Bolsheviks, these fierce horsemen – recruited by Ivan the Terrible in 1571 to guard Russia's borders – are back in harness. Between the Don and the Volga, and further south near Krasnodar and Rostov, stanitsas have sprung up again. Russia's ongoing demographic worries have played a part in this trend. Ethnic Russians are increasingly anxious about the vibrant Muslim areas of the Caucasus, the only places where the population is growing. This suits the Cossacks, who see themselves resuming their traditional role as the guardians of the southern steppes threatened by Tatar hordes.
The Russian army has had a Cossack regiment since 2005. Some 30 military schools, such as the one in Volgograd, have opened in the country. Strapping fellows, in papakhi (the traditional black Astrakhan hats), now patrol the streets of Moscow and Krasnodar to prevent trouble and acts of blasphemy against shrines. They replace the police in this paradoxical land where the "hierarchy of power" coexists with disintegrating state institutions (police, army, justice) sapped by inefficiency and corruption.
As part of the tsarist army the Cossacks pursued Napoleon's forces across Europe, finally camping on the Champs Elysées in 1814. But during the civil war, which followed the 1917 revolution, they were divided, Reds pitted against Whites. In the early 1930s the triumphant Bolsheviks turned on the Cossacks, who seemed at odds with dreams of a "new man". They were liquidated, along with the kulaks. During the second world war Stalin reinstated Cossack cavalry units, but when peace returned they were again forgotten.
For the past 20 years Russia's leaders have been searching for a new "national idea". With the fall of communism, they wanted to give new impulse to the country, torn between embracing the outside world or withdrawing within its borders. Since the start of his third term as president, Putin seems to have adopted the traditional tsarist line, first expressed under Nicholas I, that promotes "orthodoxy, autocracy and nationality".
Much as his reactionary predecessor, Putin relies on officialdom, the church and the security services to govern. This fits well with Cossack patriotism. "Russia is like a mother, an invaluable gift from God and above reproach," Nikolaevich says. Putin's portrait hangs in every classroom, alongside the Russian flag and the words of the national anthem.
According to Stratulat, a former Soviet air-force pilot, the return to values such as "spirituality, morality and patriotism" is good for the country, which is still recovering from the chaos that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union. "The children who are boarders here would spend their time in front of a computer or TV at home with their parents. Some belong to problem families, with feckless, alcoholic parents, so they're better off here," he explains. "We try to give our pupils a sense of brotherhood. They will leave school as law-abiding citizens, profoundly attached to God and their homeland."
• This article appeared in Guardian Weekly, which incorporates material from Le Monde

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via Russia - Google News on 2/26/13



UPDATE 2-Russia says central bank independence not at risk
Reuters
MOSCOW Feb 26 (Reuters) - The Russian government said on Tuesday it was seeking greater representation on the central bank's board under reforms to unify financial market oversight, but said it posed no threat to the bank's independence. Speaking to ...



A video produced by Iranian-Canadian journalist Mazar Bahari, who was imprisoned in Iran in 2009, calls for the release of Iranian journalists who were arrested in late January on charges of 'conspiring' with foreign media.

via Russia - Google News on 2/26/13

BBC News




'Gay propaganda' bill proves divisive in Russia
BBC News
A bill banning "homosexual propaganda" has passed its first reading in the Russian parliament. It still has some way to go before it is made law, but is already proving divisive. "I do not know any homosexuals personally, but I have seen them on TV and ...
Russia defends law against 'gay propaganda'FRANCE 24
Russia's foreign minister defends anti-gay billHuffington Post
Gay propaganda ban 'not discrimination': RussiaZee News
Here And Now -Christian Post
all 20 news articles »

via Russia - Google News on 2/26/13

Daily Mail




Russia to ban smoking in public places from June under Putin's plans to make ...
Daily Mail
Smoking population: Some 40 per cent of Russians smoke regularly (pictured left is a student in St Petersburg, and right a coal mine worker in Shestaki, Siberia). Almost 400,000 people die each year from smoking-related causes, according to Prime ...
Russia: Putin Signs Law to Ban Most Public SmokingNew York Times
Putin signs law to curb smoking, tobacco sales in RussiaReuters
Smokers have one less paradise as Russia pushes more smoking bansSkift
BBC News -International Business Times -Mail & Guardian Online
all 57 news articles »

via NYT > Europe by By LAURIE GOODSTEIN on 2/27/13
A British cleric resigned over allegations of sexual advances, even as many other clerics accused of failing to remove clergymen linked to child sexual abuse gather to choose a new pope.


U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, right, meets with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Berlin on Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013. Berlin is the second stop in Kerry’s first trip overseas as Secretary of State. (AP Photo/dpa,Maurizio Gambarini)PARIS (AP) — The Obama administration, in coordination with some European allies, is for the first time considering supplying direct assistance to elements of the Free Syrian Army as they seek to ramp up pressure on Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down and end nearly two years of brutal and increasingly deadly violence.

The U.S. Senate has voted to confirm Chuck Hagel’s nomination to become the country's new defense secretary, but the 58-41 vote was the closest vote ever to approve a U.S. defense chief.

via The Moscow Times Top Stories by The Moscow Times <moscowtimes@themoscowtimes.com> on 2/26/13
Police summoned for questioning a family member of former Hermitage Capital lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died in a Moscow prison over three years ago, the company's press service said Wednesday.

via Russia - Google News on 2/27/13

Fars News Agency




Russia envoy calls Iran nuclear talks "useful": agency
Reuters
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Talks with Iran on its nuclear program were useful, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted as saying on Wednesday by Russian news agency Interfax. "The meeting was useful," Interfax quoted Ryabkov as saying ...
Iran, world powers to meet at expert level in March: RussiaStraits Times
Russia Sees Iran-G5+1 Talks as "Useful"Fars News Agency
Almaty round of Iran talks useful - diplomatThe Voice of Russia
Press TV -RBTH Asia -Voice of Russia - UK Edition
all 457 news articles »

via The Moscow Times Top Stories by The Moscow Times <moscowtimes@themoscowtimes.com> on 2/26/13
The Moscow mayor's office has approved the next opposition march scheduled for March 2, Alexei Mayorov, head of the city's regional security department, said Wednesday.

via World news: Russia | guardian.co.uk by Matthew Weaver on 2/27/13
Follow how the day unfolded as the US continued to hint at more support for Syrian rebels while Russia urged the opposition to show more commitment to dialogue


 
 

 
Mike Nova shared Cult Of The Ancient Gods's photo.
 
As Antinous is often assimilated to Apollo, he therefore substitutes as the twin of Diana, though he can often be viewed as her male double, so that Antinous is Diana. Diana is often compared to Hecate, the supreme goddess of Theurgian magicians, who rose to prominence during the reign of Marcus Aurelius. Antinous therefore is the male equivalent of Hecate.
Goddess Hekate in a triple form.
 
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Scientists reconstruct Russia meteor trajectory (+video) - Christian Science Monitor


Christian Science Monitor



Scientists reconstruct Russia meteor trajectory (+video)
Christian Science Monitor
A duo of Colombian scientists say they have reconstructed the orbit of the meteor that exploded earlier this month over Chelyabinsk, Russia. Skip to next paragraph. In Pictures: Space Photos of the Day: Asteroids. Related stories ...
Big Meteorite Chunk Found in Russia's Ural MountainsUniverse Today
NASA Explains What Exploded Over RussiaGizmodo
NASA explains meteor explosion over RussiaiTWire
Financial Express -USA TODAY
all 119 news articles »

via Russia - Google News on 2/26/13






What exploded over Russia? Watch two videos with new answers
EarthSky (blog)
Less than two weeks ago – on Friday, February 15, 2013 – an asteroid exploded over Russia's Ural mountains. The explosion, which occurred some 8-12 miles (14-20 kilometers) above ground, shattered windows in and around the city of Chelyabinsk, ...



EarthSky // // Human World, Space Feb 27, 2013


What exploded over Russia? Watch two videos with new answers

Two videos present the latest results – as of February 26, 2013 – on the meteor that exploded over Russia on February 15.






Less than two weeks ago – on Friday, February 15, 2013 – an asteroid exploded over Russia’s Ural mountains. The explosion, which occurred some 8-12 miles (14-20 kilometers) above ground, shattered windows in and around the city of Chelyabinsk, Russia and caused some 1,000 injuries, but thankfully no deaths. Scientists are now saying it was the most powerful meteor explosion in Earth’s atmosphere since the Tunguska event in 1908. Since that day, progress has been made in understanding the origin and make-up of the February 15 meteor explosion. Two new videos present some of the latest information. Both videos were just released; you’ll find them below.
The more comprehensive of the two videos is the latest NASA ScienceCast. It’s just under four minutes long and presents NASA scientists’ latest results in a concise way.

View from space: Russian meteor entering the atmosphere
The most important message from NASA scientists – echoed by scientists throughout the world – is that the meteor that exploded over Russia on February 15 was not related in any way to the much-publicized asteroid 2012 DA14, which passed only 17,200 miles from Earth later that same day.
It was one heck of a coincidence that still “has NASA scientists scratching their heads,” according to the video. Still, an analysis of the orbit of the two objects shows they are not related, although both asteroids apparently have orbits that carry them both beyond, and close to, Earth’s orbit.
On that note, you might also enjoy the 45-second video below, showing a preliminary orbit for the Chelyabinsk meteoroid as calculated by researchers Jorge Zuluaga and Ignacio Ferrin at the University of Antioquia in Medellin, Colombia. They used information from dashboard and security cameras that captured the huge fireball to calculate an orbit. According to an article at UniverseToday.com:
Using the trajectories shown in videos posted on YouTube, the researchers were able to calculate the trajectory of the meteorite as it fell to Earth and use it to reconstruct the orbit in space of the meteoroid before its violent encounter with our planet … through their calculations, Zuluaga and Ferrin determined the rock originated from the Apollo class of asteroids.


The Apollo asteroids can get farther from the sun than Earth, but they also sometimes come within Earth’s orbit. They are considered Earth-crossers, and some can get very close to the Earth, as the February 15 asteroid over Russia clearly demonstrated. There’s been an increasing awareness on the part of astronomers that these asteroids are, potentially, dangerous, and efforts have been underway for some years now to track them. That’s why we hear so much nowadays about asteroids passing near Earth.
The video above shows the orbit calculated by Zuluaga and Ferrin, and you can read more about their research at UniverseToday.com.
Bottom line: Two videos present the latest results – as of February 26, 2013 – on the meteor that exploded over Russia on February 15.
What is the Tunguska explosion?

 

via The Moscow Times Top Stories by By Howard Amos <moscowtimes@themoscowtimes.com> on 2/26/13
The Investigative Committee said Wednesday that anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny fraudulently obtained his credentials as a lawyer.

via Russia - Google News on 2/27/13

BBC News





Russia's Alexei Navalny accused of new fraud
BBC News
One of Russia's leading opposition figures, Alexei Navalny, has been accused of obtaining his lawyer's qualifications fraudulently. The Russian Investigative Committee said that while applying to be a lawyer he had provided inaccurate information.
Russia piles pressure on opposition leader with new accusationReuters
Russia Says Protest Leader has Illegal Lawyer LicenseNaharnet
Russian opposition figurehead Alexei NavalnyRIA Novosti

all 7 news articles »

via Russia - Google News on 2/27/13

RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty





Russia's Putin called for drastic upgrade of the country's aging army in the ...
Fox News
MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on the country's top brass to deliver a drastic upgrade of the armed forces in the next three years to fend off attempts from abroad to "tip the strategic balance" in the world. In his address to ...
French President On First Russia VisitRadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
Russia's Putin called for drastic upgrade of the country's aging army within 3 ...Edmonton Journal
Russia keeps building military potential – PutinThe Voice of Russia
Russia & India Report -RIA Novosti
all 15 news articles »

via The Moscow Times Top Stories by The Moscow Times <moscowtimes@themoscowtimes.com> on 2/26/13
Former Moscow police officer Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov, sentenced to 11 years in prison for his involvement in the 2006 murder of journalist Anna Politikovskaya, said he knows people involved in two other high-profile killings, a news report said Wednesday.

via - Europe RSS Feed on 2/27/13
Pope Benedict XVI greeted the Catholic masses in St Peter's Square today for the last time before retiring, making several rounds of the square as crowds cheered wildly and stopping to kiss a half-dozen children brought up to him by his secretary.

via Russia - Google News on 2/27/13

BBC News





Russia piles pressure on opposition leader with new accusation
Reuters
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian investigators said on Wednesday a prominent critic of President Vladimir Putin had gained his qualifications as a lawyer illegally, piling more pressure on the opposition leader who already faces three criminal investigations.
Russia's Alexei Navalny accused of new fraudBBC News
Russia Says Protest Leader has Illegal Lawyer LicenseNaharnet
Russian opposition figurehead Alexei NavalnyRIA Novosti

all 7 news articles »

A man looks at a portrait of ex-spy Andrei Litvinenko in a gallery in MoscowLONDON (Reuters) - A British coroner said on Wednesday he would consider in secret sensitive information which the British government does not want made public about the death of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko, who was murdered in London in 2006. Litvinenko, who had been granted British citizenship and had become a vocal critic of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, died after someone slipped polonium-210, a rare radioactive isotope, into his cup of tea at a plush London hotel. ...

Opposition leader Navalny speaks during the first meeting of the Russian opposition Coordination Council in MoscowMOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian investigators said on Wednesday a prominent critic of President Vladimir Putin had gained his qualifications as a lawyer illegally, piling more pressure on the opposition leader who already faces three criminal investigations. Alexei Navalny, an anti-corruption blogger, was a leader of a street protest movement against Putin's 13-year rule that started after mass allegations of fraud in a parliamentary election in December 2011. But the protests have withered and made no significant inroads into the president's grip on power. ...

Mike Nova: Pope Benedict XVI: There have been times when 'it ...

Mike Nova: Pope Benedict XVI: There have been times when 'it ...: Pope Benedict XVI: There have been times when 'it seemed like the Lord was sleeping' during my papacy : In his outgoing address in...

Mike Nova comments:

He was not "sleeping", he was simply ignoring you, because both you and your Church became absolutely irrelevant to Him and to the people: His gift of spirituality was lost in your message behind empty, meaningless and deadening rituals and traditions. Apparently, God was also angry at your attitude toward gay people, because He loves them, just like He loves everybody.