Putin’s Propaganda | National Review Online

Vladimir Putin is a master propagandist. Fresh from using his state TV to mount glittering coverage of the Olympics in February, he has turned his Kremlin stooges to the task of Ukraine’s government as “fascist” and portraying it as a clear danger to any Russian speakers under its control. If the West, especially the U.S., doesn’t step up its game in responding, it will soon wonder either how Ukraine was lost to Russia or how it was rendered ungovernable.

When pro-Russian separatist groups seized control of government buildings in the eastern city of Donetsk last month, they made sure to occupy the TV station. They brought a technician with them whose first job was to turn off Ukrainian channels and replace them with Russian ones whose idea of covering the crisis was to blend montages of Ukraine’s pro-Western leaders with footage of Nazi storm troopers from World War II. (CONTINUED) 

 FULL ARTICLE HERE: 

Putin’s Propaganda | National Review Online

Senators McCain, Murphy join massive Ukraine anti-government protest, threaten sanctions | Fox News

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  Dec. 15, 2013: U.S. Senator John McCain, center, speaks as Democratic senator from the state of Connecticut, Chris Murphy, second left, and Opposition leader Oleh Tyahnybok, right, stand around him during a Pro-European Union rally in Independence Square in Kiev, Ukraine.AP

U.S. Senators John McCain and Chris Murphy joined around 200,000 anti-government protesters in the central square of Ukraine's capital Sunday, threatening sanctions against the government of President Viktor Yanukovych if authorities use more violence to disperse demonstrators.

Anti-government protesters have set up an extensive tent camp in Kiev and erected barricades of snow hardened with freezing water and studded with scrap wood and other junk.

McCain, R-Ariz., and Murphy, D-Conn., joined the anti-government demonstration to express support for them and their European ambitions. The protests began Nov. 21 after Yanukovych announced he was backing away from signing a long-awaited agreement to deepen trade and political ties with the EU and instead focus on Russia, and have grown in size and intensity after two violent police dispersals.

"We are here to support your just cause, the sovereign right of Ukraine to determine its own destiny freely and independently. And the destiny you seek lies in Europe," McCain said during a speech, according to Reuters........

FULL ARTICLE: Senators McCain, Murphy join massive Ukraine anti-government protest, threaten sanctions | Fox News

'Russia eyes Egypt's ports in bid to boost military presence' | The Times of Israel

The Russian warship Varyag (illustrative photo: CC BY-randychiu, Flickr)

Russia has been seeking to upgrade its military ties with Egypt in an effort to augment its limited access to the Mediterranean and bolster its navy’s presence in the region, the London Times reported Sunday....(CONTINUED)

FULL ARTICLE HERE: 'Russia eyes Egypt's ports in bid to boost military presence' | The Times of Israel

OK KERRY, TIME FOR ACTION, NOT NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN WORDS: Kerry says 90,000 killed in Syria | The Times of Israel

Assad and his pals, Iran, Putin and Hezbollah play deadly hardball. They are the equivalent of Mafia thugs trying to shore up Assad's tower of villainy each for cynical geopolitical reasons, among many other sleazy motives. So far in reacting to this however, for the last two years the White House has been playing whiffleball, and we see the horrific result.

Kerry, now it is on your back and conscience to take strong action to stop these crimes against humanity. If Obama won't let you, walk away from him. Otherwise, be part of the same type legacy as the one that haunts Clinton on Rwanda. - Mac McKinney

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Kerry says 90,000 killed in Syria

Figure, cited by Saudi foreign minister, is well beyond 70,000 estimated by UN human rights chief earlier this week

By Philip Podolsky and AP February 14, 2013, 11:24 pm

Mourners walk past open graves at a cemetery during a funeral for four people killed in a raid by government forces in a neighborhood of Damascus, Syria, April 7, 2012 (photo credit: AP)

After nearly two years of fighting, the death toll in Syria has reached some 90,000 people, US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Thursday. 

“I had occasion … to speak this morning with the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia. The first thing he mentioned to me was in his estimate perhaps as many as 90,000 people have been killed in Syria,” Kerry was quoted by AFP as saying.

The figure is well beyond that quoted by UN human rights chief Navi Pillay, who said Tuesday the number of people killed in Syria’s civil war is probably approaching 70,000. She told the UN Security Council that there have probably been almost 10,000 new deaths in recent weeks...........

FULL ARTICLE HERE: Kerry says 90,000 killed in Syria | The Times of Israel

THUGS OF THE WORLD UNITE: The League of Authoritarian Gentlemen - By Alexander Cooley | Foreign Policy

BAD NEWS FOR DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS, CIVIL RIGHTS


The League of Authoritarian Gentlemen - By Alexander Cooley | Foreign Policy

PUTIN THE HYPOCRITE: Russian Anti-Terror Troops in Syria

Russian Anti-Terror Troops Arrive in Syria

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) shakes hands with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad during their meeting in Moscow, Jan. 25, 2005. (Sergei Zhukov/AFP/Getty Images)

By KIRIT RADIA (@KiritRadia_ABC) and RYM MOMTAZ

MOSCOW, Russia, March 19, 2012

A Russian military unit has arrived in Syria, according to Russian news reports, a development that a United Nations Security Council source told ABC News was "a bomb" certain to have serious repercussions. 

Russia, one of President Bashar al-Assad's strongest allies despite international condemnation of the government's violent crackdown on the country's uprising, has repeatedly blocked the United Nations Security Council's attempts to halt the violence, accusing the U.S. and its allies of trying to start another war.

Now the Russian Black Sea fleet's Iman tanker has arrived in the Syrian port of Tartus on the Mediterranean Sea with an anti-terror squad from the Russian Marines aboard according to the Interfax news agency. The Assad government has insisted it is fighting a terrorist insurgency. The Russian news reports did not elaborate on the Russian troops' mission in Syria or if they are expected to leave the port.

FOR THE FULL ARTICLE WITH VIDEO CLICK HERE: Russian Anti-Terror Troops in Syria

IAEA says Iran expands nuke work; Russia says West seeks ‘regime change’ in Tehran

Friday, 24 February 2012

A float with papier-mache depicting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with a dynamite in his mouth with the text Nuclear Programme at the traditional Rose Monday carnival parade in the western German city of Duesseldorf. (Reuters) 

By Al Arabiya with Agencies

 

Iran has sharply stepped up its controversial uranium enrichment drive, the United Nations’ nuclear agency said on Friday in a report that will further inflame Israeli fears that the Islamic Republic is pushing ahead with an atomic weapons program, as Russia accused the West of seeking “regime change” in Iran.

The U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) also reported its failed mission to Tehran this week that aimed to get Iran to respond to allegations of research relevant for the development of nuclear weapons -- a serious setback to the possible resumption of diplomatic talks.

“The Agency continues to have serious concerns regarding possible military dimensions to Iran’s nuclear program,” the Vienna-based U.N. body said in a quarterly report about Iran issued to its member states, according to Reuters. 

FOR THE FULL ARTICLE CLICK HERE: IAEA says Iran expands nuke work; Russia says West seeks ‘regime change’ in Tehran

World News - Moscow election official: I helped rig Russia vote

Remember what the Beatles said: Back to the US, back to the US, back to the USSR!!!

CLICK HERE FOR FULL STORY: World News - Moscow election official: I helped rig Russia vote

BBC News - Putin's United Russia party suffers poll setback

Putin's United Russia party suffers poll setback

The ballot comes three months before the presidential election which Mr Putin is to contest

Continue reading the main story

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Early returns from Russia's parliamentary polls point to a sharp drop in support for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's United Russia party.

With 75% of ballots counted, the Central Election Commission said United Russia had 50% of the vote, down from 64% in 2007.

The vote is being seen as a popularity test of Mr Putin, who is running for the presidency in March.

Opposition parties have complained of violations of election laws.
Russia's only independent monitoring group, Golos, says it has logged 5,300 complaints alleging violations of election laws.
'Violations and fraud'

If the result is confirmed, United Russia could lose its current two-thirds majority which allowed it to change the constitution unchallenged.

Nonetheless, party chairman Boris Gryzlov says the party hopes to get a majority in the Duma.

The election commission said the Communist Party was in second place with 19.3% of the vote.

A Just Russia was in third place with 13% and the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) had 11.8%, the election commission said.

TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE CLICK HERE: BBC News - Putin's United Russia party suffers poll setback