RUSSIA and THE WEST - РОССИЯ и ЗАПАД

Russian Elites - Google News

Tensions between Russia and the West over security in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia have surfaced at an annual defense conference in Moscow. Major flashpoints include the situation in Syria and NATO expansion. VOA's Daniel Schearf reports from Moscow.

The Final Stage of the Machiavellian Elites' Takeover of America - Truthdig
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 7:47 AM

Truthdig

The Final Stage of the Machiavellian Elites' Takeover of America
Truthdig
This latest attack on Russia's supposed false narrative takes us right back to 1953 and the beginnings of the cultural war between East and West. Its roots are tied to the Congress for Cultural Freedom, to James Burnham's pivot from Trotsky's Fourth ...

Тиллерсон назвал встречу с Путиным и Лавровым бесполезной - Росбалт.RU
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 7:47 AM

В Мире – Новости Google

Росбалт.RU

Тиллерсон назвал встречу с Путиным и Лавровым бесполезной
Росбалт.RU
Переговоры госсекретаря США Рекса Тиллерсона с президентом России Владимиром Путиным и главой МИД России Сергеем Лавровым в начале апреля были безрезультатными. Об этом сам Тиллерсон заявил в интервью радиостанции NPR. «Мы ничего не решили на этой встрече», ...
"Ничего не решили". Тиллерсон подвел итоги визита в МосквуРИА Новости
Тиллерсон пожаловался на переговоры в Москве: ничего не решилиМосковский Комсомолец
Во время визита в Москву Тиллерсон не решил ни одного вопросаВести.Ru

Все похожие статьи: 61 »

Bloomberg: Считает ли Путин Медведева своим соратником? - RosInvest.Com
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 7:46 AM

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Bloomberg: Считает ли Путин Медведева своим соратником?
RosInvest.Com
Медведев никогда не отрицал впечатления, что он просто “Робин у Бэтмена Путина”, сформулированного в посольстве США в 2008 году и опубликованного WikiLeaks. “Медведев выглядит гораздо мягче и либеральнее, чем Путин, и, ...

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Из офиса "Открытой России" выносят изъятые вещиby SvobodaRadio
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 7:46 AM

From: SvobodaRadio
Duration: 02:44

У сотрудников московского офиса "Открытой России" изъяли ноутбуки, в том числе личные, материалы с символикой движения, листовки к митингу 29 апреля. У сотрудников и адвокатов не приняли ходатайства и замечания, им также не позволили ознакомиться с протоколами и записать в них нарушения.
Ссылка на источник - http://www.svoboda.org/a/28455955.html

Russia ready to mend ties with NATO - vestnik kavkaza
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 7:44 AM

Nato Russia - Google News

Center for Research on Globalization

Russia ready to mend ties with NATO
vestnik kavkaza
The relations between Russia and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are at their lowest level since the end of the Cold War, but Moscow is ready to repair them, the country's military chief said here Wednesday. "We are open to the resumption ...
Russia ready to mend ties with NATO: Military chiefEastern Mirror
Who Supports Terrorism? West Ignores Russia's Proposals to Combat TerrorismCenter for Research on Globalization

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Western civilization ideals in need of defense - Las Vegas Sun
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 7:44 AM

Western civilization ideals in need of defense
Las Vegas Sun
We are leaving the age of Obama, Cameron and Merkel and entering the age of Vladimir Putin, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, Xi Jinping, Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump. The events last week in Turkey were just another part of the ...

Названа одна из приоритетных тем первой встречи Путина и Трампа - Postimees
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 7:43 AM

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Postimees

Названа одна из приоритетных тем первой встречи Путина и Трампа
Postimees
Напомним, по данным СМИ, Путин и Трамп могут впервые встретиться в конце мая. Первый личный контакт двух президентов должен ... Обвинения в адрес РФ по поводу американских выборов последовали после того, как в 2016 году на фоне предвыборной кампании в США сайт WikiLeaks опубликовал переписку ...
Дипломат рассказал о приоритетной теме на переговорах Путина и ТрампаТелеканал ДОЖДЬ (Регистрация)
Россия предложила США дружить доменамиКоммерсантъ

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Взятие надувного Рейхстага Такие новости №74by SvobodaRadio
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 7:43 AM

From: SvobodaRadio
Duration: 05:01

Такие новости! Смотрите еженедельно по пятницам самые актуальные "такие вот" новости. Предлагайте "такие вот" новости в социальных сетях Радио Свобода с хэштегом #большеада.

Here Are The Flash Points You Should Be Watching In The Balkans
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 7:43 AM

Nightly protests in two capitals, the storming of a parliament, dangerous calls for independence referendums or ethnically based reunification, and a race for outside influence. Those are just some of the things keeping world leaders up at night over the fate of the Balkans.

Stockholm Truck Attack Toll Rises to Fiveby webdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press)
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 7:42 AM

A woman in her 60s who was injured in the April 7 truck attack in Stockholm has died, Swedish authorities said Friday, raising the death toll to five. The Stockholm police said in a statement the woman, who has not been publicly identified, had been hospitalized in southern Sweden. Other victims of attack were an 11-year-old Swedish girl, a 31-year-old Belgian woman, a 69-year-old Swedish woman, and a 41-year-old Briton whom the British government identified as Chris Bevington. Fourteen others were injured in the attack. A 39-year-old Uzbek man, Rakhmat Akilov, has pleaded guilty to a terrorist crime for ramming the truck into a crowd on a main pedestrian shopping street in the Swedish capital. Police have not disclosed a motive for the attack and no extremist group has claimed responsibility for it. Akilov's Swedish residency application was rejected last year, but police said there was nothing to indicate he might plan an attack. After the rejection, Akilov had been been ordered to leave Sweden in December. Instead, he allegedly eluded authorities' attempts to track him down. Akilov was caught in a northern suburb of Stockholm, hours after he drove the stolen beer truck into the crowd of afternoon shoppers outside the Ahlens store. The attack shocked Sweden, known for its welcoming policy toward migrants and refugees. In 2015, a record 163,000 asylum-seekers arrived in the country, the highest per-capita rate in Europe. The government responded by tightening border controls and curtailing some immigrant rights.

Read the whole story

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Новейший фрегат «Адмирал Эссен», построенный для Черноморского флота, отправился к месту постоянного базирования
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 7:41 AM

RSS

«Адмирал Эссен» является вторым фрегатом морской зоны и первым серийным кораблем проекта 1135.6.

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Merkel, Putin to discuss G20, Syria, Ukraine in Sochi on Tuesday - Reuters
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 7:41 AM

Reuters

Merkel, Putin to discuss G20, Syria, Ukraine in Sochi on Tuesday
Reuters
BERLIN German Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi next Tuesday to prepare the upcoming G20 summit in July and discuss geopolitical conflicts in Syria and Ukraine, a German government spokesman said on ...
Merkel to discuss Ukrainian crisis, Syria with PutinTASS

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Merkel, Putin to discuss G20, Syria, Ukraine in Sochi on Tuesday - Reuters
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 7:41 AM

Ukraine - Google News

Reuters

Merkel, Putin to Discuss G20, Syria, Ukraine in Sochi on Tuesday - U.S. News & World Report
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 7:40 AM

Ukraine - Google News

U.S. News & World Report

Merkel, Putin to Discuss G20, Syria, Ukraine in Sochi on Tuesday
U.S. News & World Report
BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi next Tuesday to prepare the upcoming G20 summit in July and discuss geopolitical conflicts in Syria and Ukraine, a German government spokesman ...
Merkel to discuss Ukrainian crisis, Syria with PutinTASS

all 21 news articles »

100 days of Russia drama for the Trump White House, with no end in sight - CNN
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 7:40 AM

CNN

100 days of Russia drama for the Trump White House, with no end in sight
CNN
(CNN) The 100-day mark is traditionally a time for presidents to examine their accomplishments (or lack thereof), but nothing has placed a cloud over President Donald Trump's early presidency quite like the issue of Russian meddling into the election ...
Partisans embrace damning accusations about Trump helping Russians, Obama spying on TrumpWashington Post
Republicans and Democrats split over Russia probes: PollABC News

all 1,685 news articles »

EU on Course to Renew Russia Sanctions Barring Le Pen Election Win - U.S. News & World Report
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 7:39 AM

U.S. News & World Report

EU on Course to Renew Russia Sanctions Barring Le Pen Election Win
U.S. News & World Report
VALLETTA (Reuters) - The European Union will seek to renew economic sanctions againstRussia when they expire at the end of July, encouraged by U.S. President Donald Trump's unexpectedly frosty relations with Moscow, EU diplomats and officials said.

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Russian Lawmaker Says Apartment Hit By Arson Day After Duma Vote
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 7:39 AM

Turkey And Russia - Google News

A Russian lawmaker says his apartment was set on fire a day after he voted against legislation on demolition of Soviet-era five-story apartment buildings in Moscow.

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Turkey, Russia reach agreement on S-400 air defense system deliveries - TASS
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 7:38 AM

Sputnik International

Turkey, Russia reach agreement on S-400 air defense system deliveries
TASS
ANKARA, April 28. /TASS/. Turkey and Russia have reached an agreement in principle on the delivery of Russian-made S-400 long-range surface-to-air missile systems to the Turkish side and are negotiating the price and joint production issues, Turkey's ...
Turkey, Russia Reach Deal on S-400 Air Defense Systems Purchases - FM CavusogluSputnik International
Putin, Erdogan may discuss S-400 sale to Turkey in early May in Sochi – KremlinRT

all 5 news articles »

СМИ узнали о времени для уничтожения спецаппаратуры утонувшего «Лимана» :: Общество :: РБК
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 7:30 AM

РБК - Все Материалы

У экипажа затонувшего в Черном море разведывательного корабля «Лиман» было достаточно времени, чтобы уничтожить специальную аппаратуру. Об этом «Интерфаксу» рассказал информированный источник.

По словам собеседника, моряки три часа вели борьбу за живучесть корабля. «Этого времени более чем достаточно для того, чтобы уничтожить аппаратуру, попадание которой в чужие руки недопустимо», — сказал источник.

Собеседник также сообщил агентству, что корабль решал задачи «по предназначению в западной части Черного моря». Он отметил, что «Лиман» не направлялся в Средиземное море, поскольку, согласно турецким данным, корабль не проходил черноморские проливы.

В штабе Балтийского флота России агентству сообщили, что могут оперативно направить в Средиземное море корабли разведки взамен затонувшего «Лимана».

Бывший командующий Северным флотом, член Морской коллегии при правительстве адмирал Вячеслав Попов считает, что «Лиман» можно поднять. По его словам, если глубина «100 метров», то поднять судно «такого небольшого водоизмещения возможно». Он высказал мнение, что лучше поднять корабль, чем уничтожить его глубинными бомбами.

Российский корабль Черноморского флота «Лиман» 27 апреля затонул в 40 км от пролива Босфор после столкновения с судном, шедшим под флагом Того. Все 78 членов экипажа, находившихся на корабле, были эвакуированы. 28 апреля самолет Минобороны доставил их в Севастополь.

Second report says Donald Trump and advisers caught on tape plotting treasonous deal with Russia
Thursday April 27th, 2017 at 10:01 PM

Palmer Report

Eleven days ago an intel community source asserted that there’s a recording of Donald Trump pitching a treasonous election rigging deal to Russia, and that three of his advisers were secretly surveilled discussing the plan. Now comes another intel community source report asserting the same thing, and lending credence to the first report.

The first word of this came on April 16th, when an intel community source told former British Parliament member Louise Mensch that Carter Page had been sent to Moscow with the tape of Trump in order to strike the deal with the Russians (link). Now comes another source, this time through Claude Taylor from the Bill Clinton administration, asserting that the Trump recording lays out the details of a deal involving “hacking for removing sanctions” and that the U.S. intelligence community has a copy of the recording (link). If this proves to be accurate, then Trump and his advisers will have little chance of explaining away their actions. Even if the DOJ initially refuses to prosecute anyone involved, the intel community could simply leak the tape, proving the guilt of all involved, and motivating the majority of Americans to put intense political pressure on Congress to impeach Trump.

Not every expert political pundit sees the report as plausible. For instance Seth Abramson shared his view today: “Is Don Trump stupid enough to entirely unnecessarily organize his quid pro quo in this way? Sure. Do I think he did? Absolutely not, no” (link). That said, with a second source now separately making the same assertion, this lends significant credibility of the initial report.

As to why Donald Trump and his advisers would do something as sloppy as incriminating themselves on tape, as Palmer Report has previously pointed out (link), no one involved truly believed Trump could win anyway – and thus they didn’t see a particular need to cover their tracks as they went. Contribute to Palmer Report

If you appreciate the investigative reporting of Palmer Report, consider making a

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Support us: PayPal • GoFundMe

Bill Palmer is the founder and editor in chief of the political news outlet Palmer Report

H hanging prop - Google Search
Thursday April 27th, 2017 at 9:26 PM

Vladimir Putin a 'dark Sith Lord' as Russia spreads fake news, NATO seminar told
Thursday April 27th, 2017 at 7:53 PM

Russian President Vladimir Putin is a "dark Sith Lord" engaging in an information war, the head of Latvia's infantry has told a NATO seminar on the use of fake news as a weapon.

Brigade commander Colonel Ilmars Atis Lejins told the seminar, in Riga on Thursday, that his country was suffering from a sustained barrage of propaganda aimed at destabilising Latvia and its armed forces.

Russia had been provoked by NATO's move to beef up its presence in the Baltic nations, he said.

His was the bluntest and most provocative presentation at a seminar that painted a gloomy picture of a flood of pro-Russian propaganda, intended to undermine the alliance.

Martins Kaprans, from the Centre for European Policy Analysis, said a "digital archipelago" of pro-Kremlin websites "attack NATO on an everyday basis to undermine the deployment of allied forces to the Baltic states and Poland".

Latvia is a former Soviet state, which shares a 214-kilometre border with Russia.

Colonel Lejins said that, as the infantry commander, he was the "tip of the spear" or the "speed bump or the trip flare" against a potential attack.

NATO's recent move for an "enhanced forward presence" - an increase in the numbers and activity of NATO forces in Baltic countries - had made Latvia more "relevant" in the eyes of Russia and prompted counter-action, Colonel Lejins said.

"It will be a never-ending ping-pong game," he said. "We, the military, do not lead it. We are not the dark side of the Force. It's Putin who is the dark Sith Lord if you want to use Star Wars as an analogy."

The Latvian military saw three themes being directed against it, to a target audience in Latvia and wider Europe.

"It is the 'three f's', the fascists, the failed state and the fear," he said.

Latvia was regularly labelled a fascist state in pro-Russian propaganda.

"I do not have a small moustache and I left my jackboots back home," Colonel Lejins said.

"But that one is ongoing all the time, that Latvia is a fascist state, which I think is just ridiculous. I mean, grow up."

Last year, a skinhead from St Petersburg was sent to Estonia to pose as a local Nazi activist, Estonia's internal security service claimed in a report this week, saying "the Kremlin-controlled media was naturally eager to pick this up".

Fake news also pushed the idea that Latvia was a failed state that could not govern itself, with a failed army that could not protect the country and relied entirely on NATO, Colonel Lejins said.

But the fear of war was exploited the most, he said.

"The 20th century for Latvia was a very traumatising period; it gave us our nation. However, we also lost it and we lost a lot of people. The fear of war will be exploited a lot. The sheer presence of more soldiers in Latvia will be exploited, saying that is a risk of more war. We have to counter that as well."

Soldiers from Canada are due to arrive in Latvia soon as part of the alliance's "enhanced forward presence" in central and eastern Europe - the largest sustained military presence in NATO territory since the early 1990s.

This week, the Latvian army was again a target for false news, Colonel Lejins said.

Propaganda outlets - which he did not specify - claimed the army were "eating LSD tablets and preparing to attack Moscow", he said.

He joked that Russia was "thinking very highly of us that we could attack Moscow with just 1500 soldiers, but, OK, maybe the defences in Moscow should be strengthened".

Peter Doran, executive vice-president of the Centre for European Policy Analysis which co-convened the seminar, said the "age of information" was rapidly becoming "the age of disinformation".

"Russia right now is deploying an unprecedented set of tools against the Atlantic Alliance," he said.

"It is an arsenal that spreads disinformation and the digital toxins of false narratives, fake news, division and distraction.

"The spreading of this information is as easy as a [social media] 'like', a Tweet or a share, and right now Russia is winning."

Donald Jensen, a senior fellow at CEPA, said he saw Russian disinformation "almost every day".

"[They are] stories about misbehaviour of German or Polish or US troops, invented stories about the lack of social cohesion and unity," he said.

Russia saw information war as "part of their general military and foreign policy doctrine" to re-establish Russian power and influence in Europe, and decrease US influence, he said.

Janis Sarts, director of the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence, said there was a "much more intense environment" coming as propaganda tools grew in sophistication - using machine learning and automation, for example.

"We have to be prepared and, as we stand right now, we are lagging behind," he said. "[There is] a lack of ability to concentrate on the things that matter."

___________________________________________

Russia: Russian intelligence ship sinks - 4.27.17

You Zar ("Sith"), si (see, ssi) f...... H(anging) - (by the herd of sheep)
You - zar - si - f - H
Youzarsif H - Google Search
News - Youzarsif H - Google Search
Vladimir Putin a 'dark Sith Lord' as Russia spreads fake news, NATO seminar told
Sith Lord - Google Search
News - Russian intelligence ship sinks - Google Search
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Russian intelligence ship sinks - Google Search
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Li - man?
Russian intelligence ship sinks off Turkey's Black Sea coast: authorities | Reuters
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AP: Russian Navy Ship Sinks Off Turkey After Crash | Time.com
Russian navy intelligence ship sinks after collision with freighter off Turkish coast - The Washington Post
Russian navy ship sinks in Black Sea, all 78 crew rescued | The Times of Israel
Russian navy intelligence ship sinks after collision with freighter off Turkish coast - The Washington Post
Russian navy intelligence ship sinks after collision with freighter off Turkish coast - The Washington Post
Russian Black Sea Fleet Vessel Receives Hull Breach Near Bosphorus
78 Rescued as Russian Naval Ship Sinks After Collision - The New York Times
Russian warship crashes into ship carrying livestock in the Black Sea | Metro News
Israel's intelligence minister urges US to team up with Russia against Iran | The Times of Israel
Золотовалютные резервы РФ достигли максимума конца 2014 года — Российская газета
Встреча с Премьер-министром Японии Синдзо Абэ • Президент России
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VI Moscow Conference on International Security - Google Search
About the conference : Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation
Главная : Министерство обороны Российской Федерации
Замминистра обороны РФ генерал-лейтенант Александр Фомин подвел итоги Московской конференции по международной безопасности : Министерство обороны Российской Федерации

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Russian mafia groups reportedly operate in Europe on behalf of the Kremlin | Europe | DW.COM
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 8:24 AM

As tension between Moscow and the West was on the rise following Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, the Kremlin was steadily looking for instruments to wield its political influence abroad. In addition to the work of its security services, Moscow employed Russian-speaking organized crime networks in Europe as a new tool in this simmering conflict, according to a new study published by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), a think tank with offices across Europe.

The report claims there is a close connection between the Kremlin's state security apparatus represented by the Foreign Intelligence Service, military intelligence (GRU), and the Federal Security Service (FSB) and Russian organized criminal groups active in European countries. Moreover, the Kremlin often tasks these groups to act on its behalf. "The Russian state is highly criminalised, and the interpenetration of the criminal ‘underworld’ and the political ‘upperworld’ has led the regime to use criminals from time to time as instruments of its rule," the ECFR study said.

From cybercrime to smuggling

Russland Präsident Putin in Sankt Petersburg (picture-alliance/dpa/M. Metzel)

The relationship between Moscow and the mafia changed after Putin's rise to power, says Galeotti

The worlds of crime, politics, business and the state security services in Russia became interconnected in the 1990s, the report's author and a leading expert on Russian security issues, Mark Galeotti, told DW. After Vladimir Putin became president in 2000, the structure of this interconnection changed, with political elites beginning to use the criminal world to their own benefit, according to the report. As a result "gangsters could continue to be gangsters without fearing the kind of systematic crack-down they had feared - but only so long as they understood that the state was the biggest gang in town."

According to the study, this rule was apparently extended to the so-called Russian mafia in Europe, which has been used by the authorities in Moscow for various purposes, including launching cyberattacks, trafficking people and goods and even carrying out targeted assassinations on behalf of the Kremlin. Russian organized crime groups can also serve as a source of black cash for Moscow authorities. In such cases, Russian security services might facilitate smuggling goods across the border in exchange for a cut of the profits.

Another example of possible cooperation between the highest officials in Moscow and Russian criminals in Europe described by Galeotti, who works as a senior researcher at the Institute of International Relations in Prague, dates back to 2010, when an unprecedented spy scandal between Russia and the US made headlines all over the world. Red-haired agent Anna Chapman and nine other members of a Russian spy network uncovered by US authorities were exchanged for four American agents. However, the 11th alleged member of that Russian network, Christopher Metsos, disappeared without a trace after being arrested in Cyprus and released on bail. Galeotti said that several US counterintelligence officers who had spoken to him on the condition of anonymity believe that Russian criminal groups involved in human trafficking covertly sent Metsos to Russia.

Russia connections as leverage

Spionage russische Agentin Anna Chapman (picture alliance/dpa/S. Karpukhin)

The arrest of Anna Chapman and other members of a Russian spy network made global headlines

According to Galeotti, off-the-record conversations with security officials in Europe, as well as some criminals in Europe and Russia, served as an important source of information on connections between the Kremlin and Russian organized criminal groups. The most common locations for these gangs, the expert said, are places with significant Russian-speaking communities, like the south of Spain, Greece or Latvia, as well as major hubs for trafficking people, drugs and other illegal commodities, such as Berlin. Unlike 20 years ago, Russian criminal groups in Europe don't operate on the streets. Instead they act as allies, facilitators and suppliers for local European gangs and continent-wide criminal networks. For instance, approximately one-third of the heroin that reaches streets in Europe comes via Russian gangs, Galeotti said.

Another expert on Russian organized crime, Walter Kegö from the Institute for Security and Development Policy in Stockholm, echoed this sentiment. Russian mafia groups in Europe prefer to stay in the shadow, he told DW. Kegö added the Russian mafia has a big influence not only in the criminal world but also in politics. "There is no question that they are used by high officials in the Kremlin to do certain things, although not all the time," he said.

Galeotti pointed out that this kind of cooperation allows Russia to mask any direct connection with officials in Moscow. The gangs that the Kremlin turns to, he said, still have assets or people back in Russia or depend on moving goods through its territory, which means security authorities have leverage over them. "From time to time the Kremlin turns to the gangsters and basically makes them a request they can't refuse," said Galeotti.

Read the whole story

· · · ·

Russian mafia groups reportedly operate in Europe on behalf of the Kremlin - Deutsche Welle
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 8:24 AM

Russia As Mafia State - Google News

Deutsche Welle

Russian mafia groups reportedly operate in Europe on behalf of the Kremlin
Deutsche Welle
The report claims there is a close connection between the Kremlin's state security apparatus represented by the Foreign Intelligence Service, military intelligence (GRU), and the Federal Security Service (FSB) and Russian organized criminal groups ...

Freighter Full of Sheep Accidentally Sinks Russian Spy Ship - The Drive
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 8:23 AM

Putin's Face - Google News

The Drive

Freighter Full of Sheep Accidentally Sinks Russian Spy Ship
The Drive
A Russian spy ship has sunk after a collision with a freighter carrying sheep near Turkey's Bosphorus strait. The accident underscores the busy nature of the strategic entry point into the Black Sea and why Russia is actively seeking military bases ...
Russian navy intelligence ship sinks after collision with freighter off Turkish coastWashington Post
Russian ship sinks in Black Sea after collisionCNN
Russian spy ship Liman sinks off Turkey after collision with freighterBBC News
VICE News -USNI News -The Guardian
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Ever wonder why Vladimir Putin doesn't age? We asked some cosmetic surgeons - National Post
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 8:23 AM

National Post

Ever wonder why Vladimir Putin doesn't age? We asked some cosmetic surgeons
National Post
If Vladimir Putin seems to stay the same age while world leaders around him are all hit by the natural weathering of time, there's a good reason: The Russian president is almost certainly subjecting his face to steady rounds of non-invasive cosmetic ...

Turkey's Syria gamble: How far will Ankara go? - Middle East Eye
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 8:22 AM

Syria Kurds Russia - Google News

Breitbart News

Turkey's Syria gamble: How far will Ankara go?
Middle East Eye
It's one whose long-term outcome is very difficult to predict, but which poses a formidable challenge to the Kurdish enclaves of northern Syria and perhaps also to the US and Russia. It is likely to create a diversion from work of the US-led coalition ...
Is Turkey trying to disrupt Raqqa operation?Al-Monitor
Now Turkey is bombing Kurdish-led revolutionaries in Syria — with Western complicityGreen Left Weekly
Turkish warplanes kill six Kurdish militants in northern Iraq - armyChannel NewsAsia
Breitbart News
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As Trump Faces Overseas Challenges, US Diplomatic Posts Remain Unfilled by webdesk@voanews.com (Cindy Saine)
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 8:22 AM

With U.S. President Donald Trump facing challenges overseas in Syria and North Korea, as well as growing tensions with Russia, the public face of his his administration remains largely unknown, with hundreds of top U.S. diplomatic positions still unfilled. So far, only two new U.S. ambassadors have been confirmed — to Israel and the United Nations. More than three months into his presidency, Trump has nominated others for China, New Zealand, Japan, Congo and Senegal. He has not yet nominated anyone for 181 out of a total of 188 U.S. ambassadorships. In the first four months of his presidency, Barack Obama had nominated eight ambassadors (including country and ambassador designations such as the United Nations), George W. Bush had nominated three, Bill Clinton 15 and George H.W. Bush 14, according to the nonpartisan, nonprofit Center for Presidential Transition. Tuesday, the nominee to be the next U.S. ambassador to China, Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, will appear in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for his first nomination hearing. But as tensions on the Korean Peninsula rise, Trump has not yet nominated a U.S. ambassador to South Korea or an assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. Ambassadors are normally political appointees and are traditionally replaced under each new administration. The Brookings Institution's Thomas Wright calls this level of unfilled senior positions unprecedented and worrisome. "If you take, for instance, the recent summit with President Xi Jinping of China, there were very few Asia experts appointed to senior positions," Wright said. "Those people normally would be crucial in guiding that summit along. And so this, I think, is having a damaging effect on an ongoing basis." Acting State Department spokesman Mark Toner sought to quell concerns at a recent briefing. "I can assure everyone in this room and everyone in the United States and around the world that these are not vacancies, that there are senior State Department officials serving in acting capacities, but these folks are seasoned veterans of the Foreign Service and seasoned diplomats," Toner said when questioned by VOA. The acting spokesman and career diplomat said appointing new ambassadors and assistant secretaries of state always takes time under every new administration. But why is this administration having more problems filling top positions than previous ones? Retired U.S. Ambassador Ron Neumann told VOA it may have something to do with Trump's vetting team. "There is a very small group in the White House that is controlling a lot of things, and there are some tensions within that group," Neumann said. "But in addition to that, it [the group] is just small. So it's perfectly possible that a large part of the delay is simply that those making the decisions are totally overloaded." Neumann, now president of the American Academy of Diplomacy, noted that when it comes to top foreign policy positions within the State Department, there may be other considerations. "I think there's an additional feature, which is that Secretary [of State Rex] Tillerson wants to finish his review of how to restructure the State Department before he fills a lot of jobs, some of which might be eliminated. And there's a certain logic to that, but the price may be too high if it goes on too long," the former ambassador noted. In an unusual interview with The New York Times released Thursday, Tillerson's spokesman, R.C. Hammond, confirmed this, saying there was no sense nominating candidates for jobs that may eventually be cut. "The first step was to find out where the Titanic was, and then it was to map out where everything else is," Hammond told the newspaper. The Trump administration has proposed cutting the State Department's budget by close to 30 percent. Congressional leaders from both major political parties have said they will not approve such cuts. Political factors Wright says he believes there are also political factors behind the lack of nominations. "Particularly, some people around Trump are intent on vengeance against people who opposed him in the campaign. And so they've ruled out any Republicans who criticized or opposed Trump during the election," the Brookings Institution fellow said. "But they have virtually nobody who is qualified for senior Senate-confirmable positions, or very few people who actually supported him — and so we have a bit of a standoff." Council on Foreign Relations President Richard Haass said the most "natural pool of talent on the Republican side" has been precluded from consideration because many signed open letters criticizing then-candidate Trump during the campaign. "And my own recommendation — and I made this point publicly and privately — is these individuals ought to receive the equivalent of a pardon. That the president, if he wants to succeed, needs to be able to a call upon the best and the brightest, the most talented Americans," Haass said.

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Putin a 'dark Sith Lord' as Russia spreads fake news, NATO seminar told - The Sydney Morning Herald
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 8:21 AM

The Sydney Morning Herald

Putin a 'dark Sith Lord' as Russia spreads fake news, NATO seminar told
The Sydney Morning Herald
Russian President Vladimir Putin is a "dark Sith Lord" engaging in an information war, the head of Latvia's infantry has told a NATO seminar on the use of fake news as a weapon. Brigade commander Colonel Ilmars Atis Lejins told the seminar, in Riga on ...

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Haley accuses Russia of allowing Syria to deny needed aid - Fox News
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 8:20 AM

Fox News

Haley accuses Russia of allowing Syria to deny needed aid
Fox News
UNITED NATIONS – U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley accused Russia on Thursday of providing cover for the Syrian regime's use of chemical weapons and denial of desperately needed aid to hundreds of thousands of besieged people — and she urged ...
At UN, US calls for pressure on Russia to try to end Syria warReuters
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Mike Flynn's RT Headache Won't Go Away - NBCNews.com
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 8:19 AM

NBCNews.com

Mike Flynn's RT Headache Won't Go Away
NBCNews.com
At the same time, "RT's coverage of Secretary Clinton throughout the U.S. presidential campaign was consistently negative and focused on her leaked e-mails and accused her of corruption, poor physical and mental health, and ties to Islamic extremism.".

US calls for Russia to end Syrian conflict - Sky News Australia
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 8:19 AM

Лицо Путина - Google News

Sky News Australia

US calls for Russia to end Syrian conflict
Sky News Australia
The US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, is pushing the UN Security Council to focus 'all eyes and all pressure' on Russia to try and end the Syrian conflict and pressed for council action even if it faces a veto by Moscow. 'They are the ...
Nikki Haley gets in Russia's face, says Putin offering 'cover' to SyriaWashington Examiner
US envoy accuses Russia of allowing Syria to deny needed aidABC News

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Главная пропагандистка Путина опозорилась в беседе с американской журналисткой - Апостроф
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 8:18 AM

Главная пропагандистка Путина опозорилась в беседе с американской журналисткой
Апостроф
"Вот с таким е***щ... сорри, лицом, Россия вылазит на международные каналы. Ну что сказать? Лицо России — это уже Захарова включающая дурака", — отмечается в комментарии к видео. На вопрос журналистки о травле геев в Чечне Захарова сначала заявила, что это не ее тема, ...

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Trump says 'major' conflict with North Korea possible - Daily Mail
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 8:18 AM

Putin Personal Dictatorship - Google News

Daily Mail

Trump says 'major' conflict with North Korea possible
Daily Mail
He perhaps felt some empathy towards the dictator given his own experiences giving up his old life in the White House. 'As to whether or not he's rational, I have no .... 'My problem is that I have established a very good personal relationship with ...

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French Prosecutors Investigate Award Of 2018 World Cup To Russia
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 8:17 AM

French prosecutors are investigating possible irregularities in the decision to award the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, media report.

Kremlin Critic Navalny Briefly Hospitalized After Being Hit By Green Dye
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 8:17 AM

Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny has been briefly hospitalized after being hit in the face by green dye, the second time he has been targeted with a green liquid in the past five weeks.

U.S. Ambassador To UN Urges Pressure On Russia Over Syria
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 8:17 AM

US - Russia Relations Reassessment - Google News

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations has called on the Security Council to apply “all pressure” on Russia to use its influence to end the war in Syria and to help ease the worsening humanitarian crisis there.

Over 100 days of Trump, the weight of the office becomes apparent - STLtoday.com
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 8:17 AM

STLtoday.com

Over 100 days of Trump, the weight of the office becomes apparent
STLtoday.com
And in his 97th day in office, Trump claimed in a tweet that he had gotten neighboring Canada and Mexico to agree to a reassessment of the North American Free Trade Agreement, a moment that his supporters immediately touted as his “art of the deal ...

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Afghan Taliban Launches Spring Offensive Against U.S., Afghan Forces
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 8:16 AM

Putin Personality Cult - Google News

Afghanistan's Taliban announced the start of their spring offensive on April 28, promising to target military assaults on U.S.-led coalition and Afghan security forces.

Under Putin, once-fearsome Russian bear is on life support - Asia Times
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 8:16 AM

Asia Times

Under Putin, once-fearsome Russian bear is on life support
Asia Times
Instead the Russians under Putin did not attempt democratic or market reforms. They coalesced around Putin's cult of personality and, bolstered by record-high oil prices, they squandered trillions, not unlike Middle Eastern autocrats, on restoring the ...

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Putin's Dilemma: Finding Enough Troops to Fight His Wars - Newsweek
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 8:16 AM

Putin - Google News

Newsweek

Putin's Dilemma: Finding Enough Troops to Fight His Wars
Newsweek
Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine and intensive military operations in Syria have caused a very big problem: a shortage of qualified people to man its occupation forces. This personnel gap, caused by permanent, heavy losses suffered by Russia's ...

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Department of Defense Investigating Former National Security Adviser
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 8:15 AM

US - Russia Relations - Google News

President Donald Trump's former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn faces a Pentagon inquiry, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives Oversight Committee revealed Thursday. The new investigation follows bipartisan concerns about Flynn's contacts with foreign governments and the Trump administration's ties to Russia. VOA's Congressional reporter Katherine Gypson has more.

Robert Legvold: US-Russia relations are in a deep hole but neither side is interested in escalation - Panorama.am
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 8:15 AM

Panorama.am

Robert Legvold: US-Russia relations are in a deep hole but neither side is interested in escalation
Panorama.am
The US-Russia relations are in a deep hole but neither side is interested in escalation, says Robert Legvold, Marshall D. Shulman Professor at Columbia University and former Director of the Soviet Studies Project at the Council on Foreign Relations ...
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Montenegro To Vote On NATO Membership
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 8:14 AM

Montenegro's parliament is expected to ratify a pact on NATO membership for the Balkan country, marking a historic turn toward the West amid protests from traditional ally Russia and the country's pro-Russian political opposition.

AP FACT CHECK: US Anti-Missile System in S. Korea Has Limits by webdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press)
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 8:14 AM

Neat certainties are rare in the North Korean nuclear crisis, which for decades has simmered and occasionally boiled over, without resolution. So it was jarring to see the absolute confidence with which America's top Pacific commander described the ability of a contentious U.S. missile defense system, scheduled to be up and running in days in South Korea, to shoot down North Korean missiles. " If it flies, it will die," Adm. Harry Harris Jr. told U.S. lawmakers at a hearing Wednesday. Like nearly everything associated with the world's last Cold War standoff, the truth is muddier. To test the admiral's assertion, The Associated Press asked a handful of specialists to weigh in on one of the biggest points of friction in Northeast Asia. ___ THAAD has limits, unknowns Harris does have some data to back up his bold statement. After an early redesign, the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system, or THAAD, was reportedly successfully tested 12 times, according to Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. A controlled test, however, is a much different matter than an actual war, where large numbers of missiles will be fired with little or no warning. "Things that work well at home on the test range don't always go as smoothly when deployed," McDowell said. A salvo of multiple North Korean short-range missiles, for instance, could overwhelm THAAD, said David Wright, co-director of the Union of Concerned Scientists' Global Security Program. THAAD will also be deployed about 200 kilometers (125 miles) south of Seoul, whose greater metropolitan area, about an hour from the heavily armed border, is home to 25 million. "It cannot engage missiles fired at Seoul, so it offers no additional protection of the city,'' Wright said. Some scientists are even blunter. Harris' comments about THAAD's capabilities "are technically incorrect," said Theodore Postol, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "The THAAD interceptor is very easily defeated by either causing a missile to tumble end over end, or by intentionally fragmenting a rocket into pieces." THAAD's capabilities as a defense system "can be expected to be very low, probably zero or close to that," Postol said. ___ The political angle Viewed one way, Harris' declaration of confidence makes perfect sense. A senior military official briefing lawmakers beholden to American taxpayers must show complete confidence in the very expensive piece of hardware that's about to be deployed in a skittish U.S. ally living in direct range of North Korean missiles. "Just imagine an Air Force general saying that his new jet fighters, designed for air superiority, will not stand a chance against the enemy fighters," said Markus Schiller, a missile specialist in Germany. " The same is true for a missile defense system - once deployed, the commanding officer has to say it will work." The U.S. admiral may also have been looking to soothe South Korea. THAAD is a big issue ahead of the May 9 presidential election, with the leading candidate, liberal Moon Jae-in, vowing to reconsider the deployment if he wins. Some South Koreans wonder why the United States and the caretaker government that took over for recently removed President Park Geun-hye rushed key parts of THAAD into place before dawn this week, prompting violent clashes between local villagers and police. ___ The China angle Another subtext to the admiral's comments on THAAD is China. Beijing says THAAD's powerful radar can be reconfigured to peer deep into its territory and monitor its flights and missile launches. Seoul already sees moves by Beijing to retaliate, including limits on Chinese tour group visits to South Korea, which is increasingly dependent on Chinese tourism and demand for its industrial products. Some experts are sympathetic with China's argument. Postol said THAAD's radar can track Chinese intercontinental ballistic missiles flying below the curved earth horizon of U.S. missile defense radars in Alaska. It could then send and receive critical missile defense information to U.S. monitors. "This makes it possible for the THAAD radar to quickly acquire ICBMs launched from China well before the ICBMs rise over the horizon where they could be then seen by U.S. national missile defense radars," Postol said.

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Russian security chief: Fake news on cyberattacks used to undermine state sovereignty - TASS
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 8:13 AM

Russian security chief: Fake news on cyberattacks used to undermine state sovereignty
TASS
MOSCOW, April 26. /TASS/. Those willing to violate other countries' sovereignty, have been using fake news on cyberattacks as a tool, Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev said on Wednesday at the Moscow Conference on ...

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Russia Favors Joint Efforts to Fight Transnational Crime - Prensa Latina
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 8:13 AM

Russia Favors Joint Efforts to Fight Transnational Crime
Prensa Latina
26 de abril de 2017, 18:35Moscow, Apr 26 (Prensa Latina) Russian National Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev was in favor today of joining efforts at UN to fight transnational crime, during the 6th Moscow Conference on International Security, ...

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Russia ready to mend ties with NATO: Military chief - Eastern Mirror
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 8:13 AM

Russia ready to mend ties with NATO: Military chief
Eastern Mirror
Moscow, April 27 (IANS): The relations between Russia and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are at their lowest level since the end of the Cold War, but Moscow is ready to repair them, a military official said. “We are open to the ...

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Russia-West Tensions Exposed at Moscow Security Conference - Voice of America
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 8:12 AM

Voice of America

Russia-West Tensions Exposed at Moscow Security Conference
Voice of America
Tensions between Russia and the West over security in Europe, the Middle East and Asia have surfaced at an annual defense conference in Moscow. Major flashpoints include the situation in Syria and NATO expansion. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei ...

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Russia ready to mend ties with NATO: Military chief
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 8:07 AM

Eastern Mirror

Moscow, April 27 (IANS): The relations between Russia and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are at their lowest level since the end of the Cold War, but Moscow is ready to repair them, a military official said.

“We are open to the resumption of a full-scale dialogue and interaction with NATO. The main thing is that this process should take place on an equal, trusting and constructive basis,” Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov said at the Sixth Moscow Conference on International Security, here on Wednesday.

He said NATO accuses Russia of being the main source of military threats, while the alliance itself is increasing the scale of military activities in countries near Russia, Xinhua news agency reported.

NATO’s eastward expansion and deployment of a missile defense system in Europe break the balance of power in the region and increase the risk of military incidents, Gerasimov said.

To make it worse, the European countries are furnishing Kiev with military assistance, provoking it to continue armed confrontation in southeastern Ukraine, the Russian General said.

“The trust between Russia and the West is catastrophically decreasing as a result,” Gerasimov said.

In his view, the lack of close cooperation between Russia and the West on anti-terrorism creates favorable conditions for the Islamic State.

A new and mutually beneficial system for European security can be formed only through joint efforts with the participation of all European states, Gerasimov said.

Moscow security conference highlights...
Friday April 28th, 2017 at 8:06 AM