Reuters, “At least 20 die in accident on Russian nuclear sub”
MOSCOW (Reuters) - More than 20 people were killed and another 21 injured in an accident aboard a Russian nuclear submarine in the Pacific Ocean, the navy said on Sunday, in the worst submarine disaster since the Kursk sank eight years ago.
A Russian naval spokesman said 208 people were on board the submarine when an accident involving the activation of a fire extinguishing system occurred during sea trials. He said the nuclear reactor was intact and radiation levels were normal.
Continue reading ‘At least 20 die in accident on Russian nuclear sub’
Yahoo! News, “Putin may return to Kremlin in ‘09: report”
“Under this scenario Medvedev could resign early citing changes to the constitution and then presidential elections could take place in 2009,” the newspaper said, citing the unidentified source close to the Kremlinl.
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev could resign from his post in 2009 to pave the way for Vladimir Putin to return to the Kremlin, Vedomosti newspaper reported on Thursday, citing an unidentified source close to the Kremlin.
Medvedev Wednesday proposed increasing the presidential term to six years from four years, a step the newspaper said was part of a plan drawn up by Vladislav Surkov, who serves as Medvedev’s first deputy chief of staff.
Continue reading ‘Report: Putin plot to return as president’
FOXNews, “Medvedev: Russia to Deploy Missiles in Response to U.S. Missile Shield”
In a separate telegram, he congratulated Barack Obama on his election victory and said he was hoping for “constructive dialogue” with the incoming U.S. president.
MOSCOW — Russia will deploy missiles near NATO member Poland in response to U.S. missile defense plans, President Dmitry Medvedev said Wednesday in his first state of the nation speech.
Medvedev also singled out the United States for criticism, casting Russia’s war with Georgia in August and the global financial turmoil as consequences of aggressive, selfish U.S. policies.
He said he hoped the next U.S. administration would act to improve relations. In a separate telegram, he congratulated Barack Obama on his election victory and said he was hoping for “constructive dialogue” with the incoming U.S. president.
Medvedev also proposed increasing the Russian presidential term to six years from the current four, a major constitutional change that would further increase the power of the head of state and could deepen Western concern over democracy in Russia.
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Yahoo! News, “Russia test-fires ballistic missile to mid-Pacific”
MURMANSK, Russia (Reuters) - Russia for the first time test-launched a strategic missile to the equatorial part of the Pacific Ocean on Saturday, a navy spokesman said.
The spokesman said a Sineva missile had been launched from the nuclear-powered submarine Tula in the Arctic Barents Sea in the course of military exercises observed by President Dmitry Medvedev.
“For the first time in the history of the Russian navy, the target of the missile was in an equatorial part of the Pacific Ocean rather than the Kura testing ground on the Kamchatka Peninsula,” he said.
FOXNews, “Somali Pirates Threaten to Blow Up Hijacked Ship if No Ransom Is Paid”
Yuriy Yekhanurov: We are against a forceful scenario, we believe there need to be negotiations
NAIROBI, Kenya — The pirates who hijacked an arms-laden Ukrainian tanker off the coast of Somalia threatened Friday to destroy the ship if no ransom is paid, a spokesman for the bandits said.
The MV Faina is surrounded by U.S. warships, and a Russian frigate is heading toward the scene, raising the stakes for a possible commando-style raid on the ship.
“We held a consultative meeting for more than three hours today and decided to blow up the ship and its cargo — us included — if the ship owners did not meet our ransom demand,” Sugule Ali told The Associated Press when a reporter called the ship via satellite telephone.
Continue reading ‘Somali Pirates Threaten to Blow Up Hijacked Ship if No Ransom Is Paid’
FOXNews, “Somali Pirates Stand Ground as Foreign Ships Surround Them”
MOGADISHU, Somalia — With a Russian frigate closing in and a half-dozen U.S. warships within shouting distance, the pirates holding a tanker off Somalia’s coast might appear to have no other choice than to wave the white flag.
But that’s not how it works in Somalia, a failed state where a quarter of children die before they turn 5, where anybody with a gun controls the streets and where every public institution has crumbled.
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International Herald Tribune, “Russia sees in credit crisis end of U.S. domination”
MOSCOW: The Russian president said in a speech Thursday that the financial crisis in the United States should be taken as a sign that America’s global economic leadership is drawing to a close, reiterating an argument that leaders here have been making for some time, though investors in recent weeks have been fleeing Russia and depositing money in U.S. Treasury bills.
Perhaps inevitably for a country long lectured to by the United States, Russia is using the occasion of the U.S. financial crisis to do some lecturing of its own.
Continue reading ‘Russia sees in credit crisis end of U.S. domination’
FOXNews, “Venezuela Set to Develop Nuclear Power With Russia”
CARACAS, Venezuela — President Hugo Chavez said Sunday that Russia will help Venezuela develop nuclear energy — a move likely to raise U.S. concerns over increasingly close cooperation between Caracas and Moscow.
Chavez said he accepted an offer from Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin for assistance in building a nuclear reactor.
Continue reading ‘Russia will provide Venezuela with nuclear technology for The Second Cold War’
FOXNews, “Somali Pirates Demand $20 Million Ransom for Weapons-Laden Ship”
MOGADISHU, Somalia —
A man claiming to be a spokesman for the Somali pirates who seized a ship laden with Russian tanks says they want $20 million to release the vessel.
Sugule Ali says others who have made earlier ransom demands did not speak for the particular pirates who hijacked the Ukrainian-operated cargo ship Faina on Thursday.
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Breitbart, “Russia offers Chavez nuclear help amid US tensions”
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was to meet Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev on Friday after Russia risked Washington’s wrath by offering the fierce US foe help developing nuclear energy.
The two were to meet in the city of Orenburg after hawkish Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told Chavez in Moscow on Thursday that Russia was “ready to consider the possibility of cooperation in nuclear energy.”
Continue reading ‘Medvedev and Chavez to meet’
FOXNews, “Russian Navy Ships Head to Venezuela for Maneuvers”
MOSCOW —
A Russian navy squadron set off for Venezuela Monday, an official said, in a deployment of Russian military power to the Western Hemisphere unprecedented since the Cold War.
The Kremlin recently has moved to intensify contacts with Venezuela, Cuba and other Latin American nations amid increasingly strained relations with Washington after last month’s war between Russia and Georgia. During the Cold War, Latin America became an ideological battleground between the Soviet Union and the United States.
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FOXNews, “2 Russian Blackjack Bombers Land in Venezuela”
Two Russian strategic bombers landed in Venezuela on Wednesday as part of military maneuvers, the government said, announcing an unprecendented deployment to a new ally at a time when both nations are involved in tense relations with the U.S.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the two Tupelov-160 Blackjack Bombers flew to Venezuela on a training mission. It said in a statement carried by the Russian news wires that the planes will conduct training flights over neutral waters over the next few days before heading back to Russia.
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CNN, “Putin accuses U.S. of orchestrating Georgian war”
SOCHI, Russia (CNN) — Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has accused the United States of orchestrating the conflict in Georgia to benefit one of its presidential election candidates.
In an exclusive interview with CNN’s Matthew Chance in the Black Sea city of Sochi Thursday, Putin said the U.S. had encouraged Georgia to attack the autonomous region of South Ossetia.
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The New York Times, “Russia Backs Independence of Georgian Enclaves”
MOSCOW — Russia on Tuesday recognized the independence of two enclaves that have long sought to secede from neighboring Georgia. The action deepened strains with the West over the conflict in the economically vital crossroads of the Caucasus and roiled a broader debate over how to respond to separatist movements around the world.
The Russian decision was intended to consolidate its political and military gains in the two and a half weeks since it invaded Georgia after hostilities flared over the breakaway territory of South Ossetia, an ally of Moscow.
Continue reading ‘Russia formally declares South Ossetia independent’
