Russian news

[Brasscasing]

More on the found submarine...

Opinion: Sub Discovery Media Storm Highlights Tensions Between Russia and the West

news.usni.org

According to this article it was the salvage company that discovered the submarine not the Swedish navy as I originally posted.

There is a snapshot (linked article above) of what appears to be the Conning tower.

..."By Tuesday it was increasingly clear that the submarine was of an older vintage, more than likely Som, an imperial Russian navy submarine that was lost with all hands after colliding with a Swedish merchantman in 1916. Interestingly, Som began its service life as the Fulton, an experimental U.S. boat built in 1901 that was sold to an increasingly desperate Russian empire during the Russo-Japanese war, where the Som briefly saw action."...

Brass

Edit: Thanks Sandro, You beat me to it. I was going to post pretty well what you've just reported.

[Brasscasing]

And another reason (among a growing list of reasons) that Russia needs to be removed from the UN Security Council...

Russia expected to veto UN tribunal on MH17

..."Russia on Wednesday is expected to veto a UN Security Council resolution to set up an international criminal court to prosecute those responsible for shooting down a Malaysia Airlines plane over Ukraine a year ago."...

http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/russia-expected-to-veto-un-tribunal-on-mh17-1.2492414

Enough of the BS. Convene an international tribunal (coalition of the willing if need be) and proceed with the inquiry. It's time to reveal the truth regarding this war crime and bring those responsible to justice. The families demand it, the victims deserve it and the civilized world needs resolution.

The Kremlin/Putin has made a mockery of this despicable crime long enough. It's time for the international community to re-establish due process and the rule of law with Russia, by force if necessary.

Brass

[tfcrew]

 

Russian hero cop rams his car into oncoming vehicle to save children's lives Published time: 27 Jul, 2015 15:53Edited time: 28 Jul, 2015 09:00

 A Russian police officer risked his own life to prevent a road accident that put dozens of children in danger. He ran his patrol car into a vehicle, speeding head on into a convoy of children’s buses. The cop miraculously survived the crash.
On Saturday, the officer, now hailed as a hero, Aleksandr Kosolapov, was escorting a convoy of nine buses transporting about 300 children from a summer camp to the city of Abakan, the capital of the Khakassia Republic in sourthern Siberia.
Suddenly, a car driving at high speed in the opposite lane, started coming head on in the convoy’s direction.
http://www.rt.com/news/310877-russian-policeman-saves-children/

[Brasscasing]

As expected, the criminals in the Kremlin have once again delayed justice...

MH17 crash: Russia vetoes UN resolution for criminal tribunal

..."Russia has vetoed a United Nations draft resolution seeking to set up an international criminal tribunal into the MH17 air disaster in Ukraine.

Eleven of the 15 members of the UN Security Council voted in favour of the resolution, while three abstained."...

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33710088

Brass

[calmissile]

And another reason (among a growing list of reasons) that Russia needs to be removed from the UN Security Council...

Russia expected to veto UN tribunal on MH17

..."Russia on Wednesday is expected to veto a UN Security Council resolution to set up an international criminal court to prosecute those responsible for shooting down a Malaysia Airlines plane over Ukraine a year ago."...

http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/russia-expected-to-veto-un-tribunal-on-mh17-1.2492414

Enough of the BS. Convene an international tribunal (coalition of the willing if need be) and proceed with the inquiry. It's time to reveal the truth regarding this war crime and bring those responsible to justice. The families demand it, the victims deserve it and the civilized world needs resolution.

The Kremlin/Putin has made a mockery of this despicable crime long enough. It's time for the international community to re-establish due process and the rule of law with Russia, by force if necessary.

Brass

Agree 100%, but with Obama in the whitehouse, I would not hold my breath.

[Anotherkiwi]

And another reason (among a growing list of reasons) that Russia needs to be removed from the UN Security Council...

Russia expected to veto UN tribunal on MH17

..."Russia on Wednesday is expected to veto a UN Security Council resolution to set up an international criminal court to prosecute those responsible for shooting down a Malaysia Airlines plane over Ukraine a year ago."...

http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/russia-expected-to-veto-un-tribunal-on-mh17-1.2492414

I think the most relevant quote here is the very first comment on the story above:

If Russia had nothing to do with the shooting down of the plane whether they fired or supplied the missiles, then why veto the resolution? It paints a very guilty image of Russian forces and those who give the orders. If there is nothing to hide on the Russian side, then there is no need to impede the investigation.

Why indeed?  And now, of course, the veto has happened.

[Boethius]

It's nothing new.  The USSR used its veto to its advantage all the time.


A rule of law cannot be imposed on a country if the people have no will for it. 

[2tallbill]

Russia Vetoes Security Council Proposal on MH17 Tribunal
UNITED NATIONS — Jul 29, 2015, 6:51 PM ET
By CARA ANNA Associated Press

Russia on Wednesday vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution that would set up an international criminal court to prosecute those responsible for shooting down a Malaysia Airlines plane over Ukraine a year ago.

The foreign ministers of the Netherlands, Australia and Ukraine attended a meeting over the downing that killed all 298 people on board Flight MH17. The countries are among the five nations investigating the incident, along with Malaysia and Belgium.

read all about it here
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/russian-veto-expected-security-council-votes-mh17-32748771

[2tallbill]

NATO eastward expansion would be 'catastrophic': Russian official
July 28, 2015 1:57 PM
Moscow (AFP)

NATO enlargement into Ukraine and Georgia would have "catastrophic consequences" for Europe, Russia's envoy to NATO warned Tuesday in a television interview, as relations between Moscow and the West sink to Cold War-era lows.

"Any political game concerning NATO expansion into Georgia and Ukraine is filled with the most serious, most profound geopolitical consequences for all of Europe," Russia's permanent representative to NATO, Alexander Grushko, told LifeNews television channel.

"I hope that people in Brussels and other capitals fully understand the danger of this game, the danger of the cards some forces are still trying to play. This would have catastrophic consequences," he told the Russian channel.

read all about it here
http://news.yahoo.com/nato-eastward-expansion-catastrophic-russian-official-175750347.html

[2tallbill]

Ukraine claims capture of another Russian soldier
Kiev (AFP) -

Ukraine's security service on Wednesday announced the capture of a Russian army major who was allegedly delivering explosives to pro-Kremlin rebels in the former Soviet state's separatist east.

read all about it here
http://news.yahoo.com/ukraine-claims-capture-another-russian-soldier-200337083.html

[2tallbill]

Accused Russian spy loses bid to have U.S. charges dismissed
BY JOSEPH AX

A Russian citizen accused by U.S. authorities of posing as a banker in New York in order to spy for his government lost a bid to have the case against him dismissed on Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge Richard Berman in Manhattan rejected Evgeny Buryakov's request to have the charges thrown out, saying the government's allegations were adequate to support the indictment.

Buryakov and two other Russians were charged in February with conspiring to gather economic information on behalf of Russia’s foreign intelligence service known as the SVR

read the rest of the story here
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/29/us-usa-russia-espionage-idUSKCN0Q32HV20150729

[2tallbill]

Russia brands U.S. democracy-promoting group 'undesirable'
By CAROL J. WILLIAMS

The Russian government on Wednesday formally branded the U.S. National Endowment for Democracy as an "undesirable" operation, a designation that
will force the civil society advocates to shut down their offices and cease issuing grants to Russian rights groups.

In a statement carried by the official Tass news agency, the Russian Foreign Ministry accused the democracy-promoting nongovernmental organization of activities "aimed at destabilizing the internal situation in countries that pursue an independent policy."

read all about it here
http://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-russia-us-democracy-group-20150729-story.html

[2tallbill]

Russia’s crackdown on civil society shows the regime’s weakness
By Carl Gershman July 28
Carl Gershman is president of the National Endowment for Democracy.

Russia’s newest anti-NGO law, under which the National Endowment for Democracy on Tuesday was declared an “undesirable organization” prohibited from operating in Russia, is the latest evidence that the regime of President Vladimir Putin faces a worsening crisis of political legitimacy.

Putin may claim that the National Endowment for Democracy and other nongovernmental organizations are “a threat to Russia’s basic constitutional order,” and his labeling them as dangerous enemies, along with the Russian democrats he calls “national traitors,” is his typical way of rallying political support by appealing to nationalist fears and hostilities. But it is the regime itself that has been undermining

Russia’s constitutional order through repression, corruption and international aggression; and the pressures are now building toward what many in Russia believe is a major political turning point.

read the entire story here
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/putins-fear-of-civil-society/2015/07/28/3d873d0a-3569-11e5-8e66-07b4603ec92a_story.html

[2tallbill]

FIBA bans Russian basketball teams - Federation
Moscow (AFP) -

Russia on Wednesday said its national basketball teams have been banned from all competitions by the sports ruling body FIBA.

"The Russian basketball federation received a letter from FIBA, which said that all Russian national teams have been banned," Sergei Chernov, honourary president of the Russian basketball federation, told the TASS news agency.

read all about it here
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/fiba-bans-russian-basketball-teams-federation-192724885--nba.html

[2tallbill]

The Russian Bear is Back, Just Itching to Start a New Cold War
By Martin Matishak, The Fiscal Times
July 29, 2015

spite a steady drumbeat from Obama administration officials and others that ISIS and terror groups like it represent the biggest national security threat to the U.S., a new crop of Defense Department leaders argue that the focus should be on an old foe: Russia.

“My assessment today, senator, is that Russia presents the greatest threat to our national security,” Marine Corps Gen. James Dunford, the president’s pick to be the next chair of Joint Chiefs of Staff told the Senate Armed Services earlier this month. He cited Russia’s status as a nuclear state and its military forces ability to violate allies’ sovereignty as key reasons why it should be at the top of the list.

read the entire story here
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2015/07/29/Russian-Bear-Back-Just-Itching-Start-New-Cold-War

[2tallbill]

Bank of Russia Halts Foreign-Currency Purchases, as Ruble Hits Five-Month Lows

Central bank stops buying U.S. dollars for reserves in bid to balance inflation and growth measures

By ANDREY OSTROUKH
Updated July 29, 2015 3:35 p.m. ET

MOSCOW—Russia’s central bank, whose credibility has been tested over the past year by runaway inflation and a volatile currency, is coming sharply into focus as it tries to tame inflation without sending the economy into a deeper recession.

read the entire story here
http://www.wsj.com/articles/bank-of-russia-halts-forex-purchases-1438170781

[2tallbill]

Russian physicist’s contract in Netherlands ends over spy claim
Dutch secret service say ‘Ivan A’ identified after he met diplomat under surveillance




Thu, Jul 30, 2015, 01:00

 
A Russian physicist working on the development of supercomputers at a university in the Netherlands had his contract terminated less than a year ago when he was identified by the Dutch secret service as a security risk.

The physicist was unmasked when it transpired a Russian diplomat he met once a month at a cafe in Aachen, on the German side of the Dutch border, near Maastricht, was under surveillance by the German security service and money had been changing hands.

read all about it here
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/russian-physicist-s-contract-in-netherlands-ends-over-spy-claim-1.2301181

[2tallbill]

Bribing Russian officials is going up




read all about it here
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/08/03/globalpost-ruble-expensive-bribe-russia/31054829/

[2tallbill]

Russia's Lavrov meets Hamas chief, invites him to Moscow
REUTERS/RIA NOVOSTI

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal in Qatar on Monday and invited him to visit Moscow, a Hamas official said, extending a diplomatic welcome to the Palestinian group shunned by the West.

Meshaal, who is based in Doha, last traveled to Moscow in 2010, four years after his first official visit to the Russian capital.

read all about it here
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/03/us-russia-hamas-idUSKCN0Q81NW20150803

[2tallbill]

Russian Security Forces Kill 14 Militants
Reuters
August 03, 2015 10:17 AM

MOSCOW—
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) forces killed eight Islamic State militants
on Sunday and six other Islamist rebels on Monday in the North Caucasus, the
national Anti-Terrorist Committee (NAK) said.

Moscow is struggling to quell an insurgency by militants who have proclaimed a
caliphate in the North Caucasus, a patchwork of mainly Muslim republics on
Russia's southern rim, where separatists fought two wars in the 1990s.

read all about it here
http://www.voanews.com/content/russia-says-security-forces-killed-militants/2896583.html


related story

Russian Security Forces Kill Eight Alleged ISIS Militants
http://europe.newsweek.com/russian-security-forces-kill-eight-alleged-isis-militants-331126




http://europe.newsweek.com/russian-security-forces-kill-eight-alleged-isis-militants-331126

[2tallbill]

Western sanctions are hitting Russia harder than anyone realised
IMF predicts Russia will lose 9pc of its GDP because of sanctions imposed
amid the Ukraine crisis

Sanctions linked to the Ukraine crisis could end up costing Russia 9pc of its gross domestic product, the International Monetary Fund has said.

Russia's economy is showing signs of stabilisation after slumping under pressure
from Western financial sanctions and Russian counter-measures. Low international
prices for its oil exports have added to pressure on the rouble and government
finances.

"The effects of sanctions in terms of external access to financial markets and new investment technology will linger," the fund said, summing up the findings of a
mission in May.

read all about it here
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/11780708/Western-sanctions-are-hitting-Russia-harder-than-anyone-realised.html

[2tallbill]

Note by Bill, before Hillary helped get rid of Egypts President Hosni Mubarak
Egypt would have wanted to buy a system like this from the USA. Luckily we
are still giving them $1.5 billion in aid from the USA₁ so they can afford to buy
the Russian system!


Egyptian Military Wants Russian Intelligence Tracking System
By Tim Marcin IBT
August 03 2015 9:03 AM EDT

Egyptian special forces want to acquire a Russian intelligence system that can track enemy coordinates through radiolocation and satellite navigation systems, according to the press service for Russia's Central Military District, Russian outlet Sputnik News reported Monday. The news came after a group representing the Egyptian military attended a counterterrorism training session in Russia.

"We watched the Strelets intelligence system in operation… We liked the system, and we
would like to have it at our forces' disposal," the head of an Egyptian delegation said,
according to Sputnik. The intelligence system known as Strelets has been used for air
defense in Russian helicopters, according to Aviation Week. The counterterrorism training
session in Russia featured about 1,200 soldiers and 400 pieces of military equipment.

read more here
http://www.ibtimes.com/egyptian-military-wants-russian-intelligence-tracking-system-2035949


1. http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2014/04/225147.htm

[sleepycat]

Let's hope none of our forum members got burnt investing in this quality Russian blue chip stock... 

http://www.valuewalk.com/2015/08/gazprom-decline/

[Krassie]

Interesting site: 1. rouble   2. euro   3. price of oil     the site: http://zenrus.ru/       tells us much about economy

[Brasscasing]

Maybe there's a higher power getting involved where the rest of the civilized world stands still...

Locust swarms plague southern Russia

..."Moscow (CNN)—Millions of locusts have descended on farmlands in southern Russia, devouring entire fields of crops and causing officials to declare a state of emergency in the region.

A vast area of at least 800,000 hectares is currently being affected as the swarms of insects, each measuring about 8 centimeters long, annihilate fields of corn and other crops."...

http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/04/europe/russia-locust-swarms/index.html

...Nine more plagues to go. 

Brass