Much has changed in the past 10 years. Oligarchs have been replaced by networks as the real challenge to Vladimir Putin’s power.
Tag: putin
The Sochi Olympics are to Putin what Saint Petersburg was to Peter The Great. Freeing rivals, such as Khodorkovsky and Pussy Riot, are one more step toward sealing his place in history.
What would Niccolo Machiavelli, the author of “The Prince” (published exactly 500 years ago), have thought about modern China? What would he have done with the Internet?
MOSCOW – As they met in the Green Room at the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin and Viktor Yanukovych were sitting comfortably in armchairs, sharing each other’s worries about the drop in trade between their countries. Now, the Russian and Ukranian presidents told each other, is the time for decisive action, time to open up a new […]
Thursday, December 4, 2014 NEW YORK PROTESTS GRAND JURY DECISION For the second time in less than two weeks, the presiding grand jury in a high-profile case of a white police officer who’d killed an unarmed black man chose not to bring charges against the officer involved. Protests quickly spread around New York and in […]
Europe represents the freedom from political dictatorship. But at what cost?
Putin is doing everything to not be remembered by history as the one who “lost” Ukraine. Mother Russia’s imperial face is on the line.
Wednesday, November 19, 2014 NORTH KOREA COULD FACE HUMAN RIGHTS PROBE The United Nations’ human rights committee has called on the Security Council to refer North Korean leaders to the International Criminal Court over allegations of crimes against humanity, the BBC reports. The resolution approved late Tuesday was based on a report published earlier this […]
Monday, November 17, 2014 ISIS EXECUTES U.S. AID WORKER U.S. President Barack Obama confirmed yesterday the killing of American aid worker Peter Kassig, who was executed by ISIS, and described it as an act of “pure evil,” The New York Times reports. A video released by the terrorist organization shows Kassig’s beheaded body as well […]
MOSCOW — The U.S. government is convinced that Edward Snowden is violating Vladimir Putin’s “ultimatum.” The Russian president had said in July that the National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower could stay in Russia only if he “stopped his work that was meant to cause damage to our American partners.” In August, Snowden was granted asylum […]
And it’s about to get worse in the country that has granted temporary asylum to Edward Snowden.
See the solar eclipse through shades, the Boston Red Sox win the Series, a “poisoned” USB key and other images that have made news in the past seven days. (cover photo: Imahinasyon)
OSLO – “This year’s nominations come from all over the world … well-known names, well-known presidents and prime ministers and also lesser well-known names…” Norwegian Nobel Committee’s non-voting secretary Geir Lundestad acknowledged the controversy sparked by recent numbers, as he announced the number (not names) of nominations for the Peace Prize, which will be awarded […]
-Analysis- MOSCOW — So Russian diplomats finally prevailed on the Syria question. Since the beginning of the clashes in 2011 between the Syrian army, which is loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, and the armed opposition, Russia has used all of its power to prevent an international intervention, including blocking a UN Security Council resolution condemning […]
-OpEd- PARIS — The Kerry-Lavrov agreement finally ends any illusion of a new “Cold War” that would have featured a showdown in Syria between friends of Washington and allies of Moscow. With the deal inked between American Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, it has become clear that the U.S. […]
KOMMERSANT (Russia), BBC, AFP Worldcrunch MOSCOW — Kremlin-backed candidate Sergei Sobyanin has won the mayoral election in Moscow, reports the Russian paper Kommersant. With the support of 51.37% of voters, he secured just above the 50% threshold needed to avoid a second-round ballot. His main rival, Alexei Navalny, received 27.2% of the vote. According to […]
RIA NOVOSTI (Russia), REUTERS, RUSSIA TODAY, AFP, BBC Worldcrunch ST. PETERSBURG — The leaders of the world’s 20 most powerful economies arrived Thursday in Russia for the annual G20 summit. The two-day meeting was initially supposed to focus on the economic slowdown in the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) as well […]
AP, NEW YORK TIMES, BBC Worldcrunch MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin says he doesn’t rule out his country’s participation in a military operation in Syria if evidence showing that Damascus carried out chemical attacks is “convincing”. He added that the operation must be conducted with U.N. approval. In a rare interview with the Associated […]
Wednesday, September 3, 2014 SECOND ISIS BEHEADING VIDEO CONFIRMED The U.S. Intelligence Community has authenticated the video published yesterday by ISIS which purported to show the beheading of another journalist, Steven Sotloff of dual American-Israeli citizenship, two weeks after similar footage of James Foley was released, The New York Times reports. Speaking from Estonia where […]
Tuesday, September 2, 2014 RUSSIA TO REVIEW MILITARY DOCTRINE AGAINST NATO Moscow will review its military doctrine in the face of NATO expansion to countries that border Russia. Mikhail Popov, a Russian National Security Council official, said the military alliance was “one of the external military threats,” RT reports. This comes after the announcement yesterday […]
Friday, August 29, 2014 UKRAINE PLANS NATO MEMBERSHIP NATO officials are holding an emergency meeting in Brussels this morning after it released satellite imagery showing “well over 1,000” Russian troops in Ukraine, warning that 20,000 more were “amassed at the border,” the Financial Times reports. Ukraine’s Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk, meanwhile, announced that Kiev would […]
Western sources say Russia sought out the American whistleblower when he was on the run in Hong Kong. The Kremlin denies it.
U.S. APPROVES SYRIA SURVEILLANCE FLIGHTS President Barack Obama approved manned and unmanned surveillance flights over Syria in a bid to hit ISIS positions without reinforcing President Bashar al-Assad, The New York Times reports, describing the decision as “a precursor to potential airstrikes there.” According to officials, Washington has no intention of notifying or asking the […]
The legacy of the 44th president of the United States is in peril, as he is seen as weak-willed with an unfocused foreign policy. Is it 1979 all over again?
Although the number of foreign workers has declined sharply in Russia, Muscovites in particular fear the influx of immigrants – not that they necessarily want to do their jobs.
Wednesday, July 30, 2014 ANOTHER GAZA SCHOOL HIT, MORE CIVILIAN DEATHS A second Gaza school was hit by Israeli Defense Forces, killing at least 19 people. Today’s assault was on the United Nations-run Abu Hussein School in Gaza’s Jabaliya refugee camp where displaced Gazans have sought shelter, CNN reports (video included). In total, at least […]
The Russian leader is expected to try to jumpstart negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program with the new president, considered more moderate than his predecessor.
Circuses in Russia are facing animal cruelty accusations and competition from abroad.
Take a tour of what the world has been saying this week…
Friday, June 27, 2014 UKRAINE SIGNS EU PACT Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko penned this morning an association agreement that includes free-trade and political cooperation with the European Union, the same that former president Viktor Yanukovych had refused to sign months ago, triggering massive protests in Kiev that eventually brought his presidency to an end. “I […]
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Magazines, Mapped! Week of June 6-13
This week’s selection of magazine covers from around the world.
Thursday, June 5, 2014 G7 THREATENS MORE RUSSIA SANCTIONS Leaders of the G7 are meeting today in Brussels, and the unrest in Ukraine is expected to be high on the agenda, the BBC reports. Because Russia was kicked out of the G8, Russian President Vladimir Putin is not attending the meeting. He will nevertheless meet […]
After a wave of nostalgia for the Communist regime of East Germany, debate is opened in Germany about whether Communism was as bad as Nazism.
While U Slept DEADLY FIGHTS IN EASTERN UKRAINE Ukrainian troops have briefly retaken the city hall building in the eastern city of Mariupol after heavy fights at barricades around the city held by pro-Russian activists overnight, CNN reports. A spokeswoman for the pro-Russian side said that five militants had been killed in the fights. Meanwhile, […]
KIEV LAUNCHES NEW ASSAULT IN EASTERN UKRAINE The Ukrainian military launched an offensive against pro-Russian militants just outside the eastern city of Sloviansk, sending armored vehicles and a helicopter, according to RTÉ, with Ukraine’s Interior Ministry reporting at least five dead on the pro-Russian side. According to AFP, civilians in the town hall have been […]
There are signs of historical insecurity in Russia’s move away from Europe and the U.S. But at the end of the day, China looms as the real threat for Moscow’s future.
MINSK – At the age of nine he has already met a pope and a few presidents. He likes guns and carries around a gold-plated pistol he was given by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Wearing his mini-uniform, he attends military parades and takes part in high-level meetings. Meet Kolya, the youngest son of Belarusian […]
MOSCOW – On Friday, the United States made public its list of Russian officials who are barred to enter the U.S. under the Magnitsky Act. The law imposes visa and banking sanctions on Russians officials accused of human rights violations. It is named after Sergei Magnitsky, a corruption lawyer and whistleblower who was accused of […]
MOSCOW – Last week President Vladimir Putin put into place the mechanisms to audit all of Russia’s government employees, who have until July 1 to rid themselves of any overseas property, stocks or bank accounts. Based on an Executive Order he signed last week, Putin’s administration – not an independent auditor or other part of […]