Month: March 2011

Central Asian drug trafficking at $20 billion yearly – Russia’s anti


Drug trafficking in Central Asia generates up to $20 billion every year, Russia’s anti-narcotics chief, Viktor Ivanov, said on Thursday.

Ivanov was speaking at a meeting of the U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission’s Drug Trafficking Working Group in Moscow.

He said the money “was being pumped into organized crime in the region.”

Russia and the United States are planning a series of joint operations to destroy drug laboratories in Afghanistan, Ivanov said, without specifying the timeframe.

Ivanov said he and U.S. drug control chief Gil Kerlikowske signed the 2010 report in order to submit it to the presidents of Russia and United States, Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama.

Afghan drug production increased dramatically after the U.S.-led invasion toppled the Taliban in 2001, and Russia has been one of the most affected countries, with heroin consumption rising steeply.

Around 30,000 Russians die from heroin abuse every year, 90% of it coming from Afghanistan smuggled through other Central Asian countries, including Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

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Russia at Odds With Ukraine – Gasoline and Diesel…


Russian exports of gasoline and diesel through the Ukraine may be interupted, they are saying at Transnefteproduct. The reason is a conflict between Russia and Ukrainian for the pipeline control. On this controversial pipeline about 2 million tons of fuel a year go to Hungary and southern European countries… (Link)

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Russia Insists on an Ceasefire in Libya but the West has Different Ideas…


Russian news is reporting that ground troops are being readied by America. The info comes from the web portal of DVIDS. So I looked it up…

NORFOLK, Va. – More than 4,000 sailors and Marines from the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group and 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit began to deploy from Norfolk and Little Creek, Va., March 23, as part of an early deployment to support Operation Odyssey Dawn in the Mediterranean Sea. (Link)

Humm – Starting to look a lot like a ground war is coming and Russia is cringing more and more at that abstention of voting at the UN. Russia is insisting on a cease fire by everyone and stop the killing of civilians…

But lets remember it is not a war says France, America and Britain. It is a humanitarian issue and collateral damage is OK when you have good warm fuzzy feelings while helping Libya. As we launch another cruise missile…

I guess it counts on which side of the fence you are on. Qaddafi and Libya consider it a war and now I think that Russia, China, India, Germany and Brazil now know that the West has declared war on Libya…

Fooled you huh guys?

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Putin meets with Serbian bikers at football stadium


Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who is on an official visit to Serbia, on Wednesday attended a football match where he met with several local bikers.

The bikers from Macedonia and Serbia are members of the Russian bike movement Night Wolves, whose leader Alexander Zaldostanov, aka Surgeon, met with the premier last year in Ukraine.

One of the bikers, Goran Jovanovic, said most of them participated in the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. Jovanovic himself lost a leg during the war, but this has not stopped his passion for bikes.

Announcing plans over possible Russian-Serbian biker projects, Jovanovic said they had already staged a tour through the NATO bombing sites in Serbia, commemorating those who were killed in the war.

“Together with the Russian side, we have an idea to hold a bike show in 2014, marking the 100th anniversary of the outbreak the World War I in honor of the Russian Expeditionary Force and Serbs killed during those years,” Jovanovic said.

Though the stadium was not packed, some of the fans were chanting “Russia!” and holding portraits of Putin. After the host announced that the Russian premier was in the crowd, Serbs started singing Katyusha, one of Russia’s celebrated Great Patriotic War songs.

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World skating host bid to replace Tokyo could be announced Thursday


ISU...

The International Skating Union (ISU) will continue on Thursday to vote on where to hold the 2011 Figure Skating World Championship after Tokyo was forced to bow out due to the tragic earthquake on March 11.

After Japan was forced to decline hosting the championship, Moscow (Russia), Vancouver (Canada), Turku (Finland), Colorado Springs (USA), Graz (Austria) and Zagreb (Croatia) put in immediate bids.

The head of Russia’s figure skating federation, Valentin Piseyev, told RIA Novosti that ballots had not yet been received by skating delegations to vote on the new host city.

The ISU said it began sending the ballots out in the evening and the results could be announced as early as Thursday.

According to Canadian press, Moscow has the best chance of hosting the World Championship.

Deputy Sports Minister Yury Nagornykh said on Monday that Russia intends to offer the ISU to hold the championship either starting in mid-April or after May 15 so that it would not coincide with the Ice Hockey World Championship in Slovakia April 29-May 15.

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Related articles

Main news of Russia March 23, 2011…


WORLD
* Renowned Hollywood actress Elizabeth Taylor has died at the age of 79, ABC television said

* The death count in Japan’s devastating earthquake and tsunami has climbed to 9,487 people, NHK reported citing the country’s police

* Microscopic radioactive particles from Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant that may spread across the world within the next few weeks are “harmless,” a Russian environmental monitoring official said

* Former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma described as a “terrible provocation” accusations that he had ordered the killing of prominent journalist Georgy Gongadze in 2000

* Japan has sustained $312 billion worth of damage from the devastating March 11 quake and tsunami, Kyodo news quoted the government as saying

* Leaders of the United States, the United Kingdom and France agreed in a phone conversation that NATO should take key role in the military operation in Libya

RUSSIA
* British rock group Deep Purple visited Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at his Gorki residence near Moscow ahead of their Wednesday gig

* Russia’s Sukhoi Superjet 100 passenger airliner will carry out its first passenger flight from Armenia’s capital of Yerevan to Moscow on April 12, officials in Russia’s Far Eastern Khabarovsk Territory said

BUSINESS
* Nomos Bank, one of Russia’s top 30 banks, has officially confirmed plans to float shares in an initial public offering (IPO) in the second quarter of 2011 to become the first Russian private bank listed in London, the bank said in a statement

* Etalon Group Limited, one of Russia’s largest real estate developers, has filed an application for its Global Depository Receipts to be admitted to listing on the London Stock Exchange’s Main Market under the ETLN ticker, it said

SPORTS
The International Skating Union (ISU) will continue on Thursday to vote on where to hold the 2011 Figure Skating World Championship after Tokyo was forced to bow out due to the tragic earthquake on March 11

* Slovenian companies are interested in joining construction projects for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in the southern Russian city of Sochi

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Russia’s new Angara rockets to be test launched before 2014


Test launches of Russia’s new generation Angara booster rockets will begin no later than 2013, a spokesman for the Russian Space Forces said.

Alexei Zolotukhin said work to build on-ground infrastructure of the space complex for launches of Angara carrier rockets is currently in active stage at Russia’s northern space center Plesetsk.

Angara rockets, designed to provide lifting capabilities between 2,000 and 40,500 kg into low earth orbit, are expected to become the core of Russia’s carrier rocket fleet, replacing several existing systems.

The rockets have a modular design similar to the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV), based on a common Universal Rocket Module (URM).

The main purpose of the Angara rocket family is to give Russia independent access to space. The rockets will reduce Russia’s dependence on the Baikonur space center it leases from Kazakhstan by allowing the launch of heavy payloads from more northerly sites such as Plesetsk and from a new space center in Russia’s Far East.

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Putin talks of Libya and dislikes use of force by the West…


TRIPOLI. With leader of the Libyan Revolution ...

Putin with Qaddafi

The way decisions on the use of force are made almost at the drop of a hat is worrying, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday, referring to the situation in Libya.

“I don’t think we can equate Serbia with Libya,” Putin said responding to a question about the lessons that the international community had drawn from the 1999 events in Yugoslavia.

“However, I am concerned by the ease with which decisions have been made in recent years to use force in international affairs.”

Putin’s latest comments offer no indication of any disagreement with President Dmitry Medvedev after the latter snapped at him over his Libya remarks on Monday.

Putin likened a UN Security Council resolution on the imposition of a no-fly zone over Libya to “medieval calls for crusades.”

Without directly fingering Putin, Medvedev later told journalists that “it is inexcusable to use expressions that in effect lead to a clash of civilizations, such as crusades and so forth – this is unacceptable.”

Under the Russian Constitution, the country’s foreign policy is formulated by the president, not the prime minister.

Russia abstained from a UN Security Council resolution adopted last week imposing a no-fly zone over Libya and measures to protect civilians from Muammar Qaddafi’s forces.

Western-led military strikes against Qaddafi, who has been ruthlessly fighting rebels in the North African country since mid-February, began on Saturday.

Libyan television has reported that at least 60 civilians have been killed and over 150 wounded in the strikes and that many health and education facilities have been destroyed.

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Russia’s Medvedev, Israel’s Netanyahu to discuss Mid-East settlement…


Benjamin Netanyahu

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday to discuss Palestinian-Israeli settlement issues and the ongoing campaign in Libya, the Kremlin press service said in a statement on Wednesday.

The meeting agenda is set to cover issues on Middle East settlement, including the restart of Palestinian-Israeli peace talks and “the other acute international and regional issues” like the current situation in Libya and Egypt, the statement said.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, who is currently on his official visit to Moscow said that he did not mind meeting with Netanyahu and called on the Middle East Quartet mediators- the United States, the European Union and the United Nations – to make constructive solutions in regard to the Israeli-Palestinian issue.

The Israeli and Palestinian leaders have, however, met three times since talks officially came to a halt in September 2010, just a few weeks after resuming in Washington following a 20-month break. Abbas withdrew from the talks after Israel refused to prolong a moratorium on the construction of settlements in the occupied West Bank, which expired in late September last year. The Israelis maintain that the settlement issue is not an obstacle to negotiations.

Netanyahu’s spokesman, Alex Selsky said the visit to Russia could be postponed because of Wednesday’s blast in Jerusalem that killed at least two and injured 25. He, however, ruled out a cancellation of the visit.

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Veteran reporter Sergei Topol was beaten up in central Moscow by Neighbors?


MOSCOW (Reuters): Veteran reporter Sergei Topol was beaten up in central Moscow Wednesday as he was leaving his flat, police said, underlining Russia’s position as one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists…

Read More: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/23/us-russia-journalist-beating-idUSTRE72M59C20110323

More coming when we start to find the information…

Update: The Russian journalist who wrote about Putin’s alleged affair is beaten in Moscow — but blames the attack on a squabble with neighbors…
Miriam Elder March 23, 2011 12:38: You might see a story going around today about another journalist who has been beaten in Moscow. Someone came up to journalist Sergei Topol from behind on Wednesday morning and hit him over the head with an object, reports Gazeta.ru. He lost consciousness. The incident happened near his home in central Moscow.
Read More:

Putin is quoted as saying: “There is not one word of truth in what you have said. I have always reacted negatively to those who, with their snotty noses and erotic fantasies, prowl into others’ lives.”

Get-um Putin…

He got in a fight with his neighbor…

Update: In Moscow, an attack on a prominent journalist Sergei Topol:

Journalist Sergei Topol beaten near his home at Tinkers waterfront.

This information to Gazeta.ru confirmed in the Moscow police, adding that the attack occurred Wednesday morning at about 9.30.

The journalist told the police that an unknown approached him from behind and was hit hard by some object.

After this journalist has lost consciousness.

The issue of a criminal case under article “Beating”. The journalist was hospitalized. His life is not threatened, said the police department.

In 1990 Topol was one of the most prominent members of the Department of accidents Kommersant newspaper.

He wrote a book about the capture of troops Budennovsk Shamil Basayev.

In 2008, he worked in Poplar funded banker Alexander Lebedev newspaper “Moscow correspondent” and was the author of the publication itself on the private life of Vladimir Putin and Olympic champion Alina Kabaeva, after which the issue of the newspaper was suspended and then discontinued altogether. “Times”

http://www.gazeta.ru/news/lastnews/2011/03/23/n_1760029.shtml

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