Crime Bosses in Russia

A suspected crime boss was arrested in Moscow on January 25th. Semyon Mogilevich was seized by armed police in connection with a charge of tax evasion—to the tune of $2m—at Arbat Prestige, a cosmetics company. Dubbed “the Brainy Don” because of his economics degree, the Ukrainian-born Mr Mogilevich is also wanted by America's FBI for racketeering, fraud and money-laundering.

He is known to have used 17 different aliases and is alleged to have been involved in money-laundering, drugs, prostitution, smuggling and dealing in stolen art. The arrest was particularly sensitive because of Mr Mogilevich's suspected ties to a company that traded gas between Russia and Ukraine.

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Semyon Mogilevich was a major crime boss in Russia in the past decades. But the part I find interesting is that he did some work between companies that sell oil between Ukraine and Russia. He could be at fault for some of the tension that now brews between the two countries. Over the past years the conflict over oil between the countries has been under close watch. This one man's operations may have contributed a significant amount of the problems himself.

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Russia's Jet Industry

Russia is hoping to make a giant come-back in civil and military aviation. It has pledged to spend billions of dollars on boosting its defense industry, especially the air force.

The goal is to build nearly 6,000 new military and civilian aircraft, and to win 15% of the global aviation market. Russia has set up a new government-controlled company to oversee the process, the United Aircraft Corporation.

But there's a long way to go, as Russia's aircraft industry has been in the doldrums since the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.

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Russia has made several deals on weapons, fighter jets, and passenger jets in the last few years. Supposedly they are have sold and bought all they will need until 2015 . This is "good" for Russia's economy as it will create more jobs and increase trading with other countries. However, the world is not looking at this so lightly. It seems as if Russia is trying to get back to its status of a super power via weapons. The worst part is, is that nobody trusts them, especially now that they are doing all these trades behind their back. How much longer can they do this before the Western World seriously calls their bluff? And will it be a true bluff by that point?

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Medvedev Appears in WSJ

Read what the WSJ has to say about Russia's upcoming leader...

Explosion kills two during Russia's presidential early vote

A bomb blew up in South Ossetia, which is Georgia's Russia-backed separatist region. The explosion killed two police officers and wounded at least 10 civilians Thursday, an official said. Explosion kills two during Russia's presidential early vote BREAKING NEWS Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton fight to change...

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All throughout history there have been killings, which makes significant events. One example is the killing of Abe Lincoln, even recent with the Virginia Tech shooting, killing people makes history. It is up to us as humans not to make history for the wrong reasons and help eliminate the killings around the world.

The Pipeline Deal

MOSCOW: Russia scored another victory Thursday in its push to tighten domination of European energy supplies, signing a landmark deal with Hungary for a new natural gas pipeline.

President Vladimir Putin, who was joined by Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany for a signing ceremony at the Kremlin, said the South Stream project was a "joint contribution by Russia and Hungary to Europe's energy security."

The €10 billion (US$15 billion) pipeline will go through Hungary after crossing Bulgaria and Serbia, and it further undercuts an alternative project — the Nabucco pipeline, which has been backed by the United States and the European Union as a way to ease Europe's reliance on Russia for energy.

"If the project is implemented, the role and significance of Hungary as an energy supplier to Europe will grow and its own energy security will be guaranteed," Putin told Gyurcsany before the signing.

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Russia and Hungary recently completed a deal for a natural gas pipeline. This pipeline is designed to help Europe with its need for energy and take the burden off one particular country. This pipeline will help to push Russia as well as Hungary to the a more dominant position in European politics. Russia is also continuing to extend their foreign relations and build alliances with other countries.

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Russia’s richest man Oleg Deripaska holds 40-billion-dollar fortune

Finance magazine published the rating of Russia’s richest men for 2008. The first list of Russia’s richest people appeared in 2004. The name of the person topping the list has been changing every now and then. The number of dollar billionaires has increased four times in Russia over just several years.

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Many times we see people that have money, either a movie star, or the creator of a successful business, and never do anything to benefit people in need. With this new billionaire in russia lets see if he will help his country in the time of need or not.

A Jewish President for Russia?

MOSCOW: Allegations by nationalists that Vladimir Putin's chosen successor, Dmitry Medvedev, has Jewish roots have brought anti-Semitism to the surface on the margins of Russia's presidential election campaign.

The first deputy prime minister, who is all but assured of victory on Sunday because he has Putin's support, has said he belongs to the Russian Orthodox faith.

But some nationalist groups say his mother's maiden name, Shaposhnikova, is Jewish, and that he is unfit to be president because of this.

Medvedev's campaign staff declined to confirm or deny he has Jewish roots. The Kremlin condemns all forms of anti-Semitism.



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Recent claims among nationalist groups in Russia are that Medvedev, Putin's successor, is Jewish. These claims are based off of the last name of his mother, which makes them not very credible claims. These tactics are the same smearing tactics that we are currently appearing in the US's election. Though the interesting thing is that these claims have not arisen until a week before the election. In the US they would appear much before that. Since Medvedev is the favored successor it will be interesting to see if these allegations hurt his campaign at all.

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Free Speech is Disappearing in Russia

The murders of outspoken journalists go unsolved, independent media outlets have been shut and police have attacked opposition protesters, said the report.

It also said "arbitrary" laws were curbing the right to express opinion and silencing NGOs deemed to be a threat by the authorities. The report comes ahead of Russian's presidential elections on 2 March.


The director of Amnesty International UK, Kate Allen, said: "The space for freedom of speech is shrinking alarmingly in Russia and it's now imperative that the Russian authorities reverse this trend."

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Supposedly the restriction of free speech has been going on behind the scenes recently and the government is now saying that wish to stop it. Journalists and protesters are being silenced, and anyone who speaks out even slightly against the government pays consequences. It seems to me that the same things regarding free speech rights in authoritarian regimes are showing up in Russia. The reappearance of these actions by the government lead me to believe that the government is now fearing change, and a more democratic state. They have found themselves in the middle of their old ways and it is becoming time for them to either listen to the people and more towards democracy or keep silencing the people and trying to tend to old habits. Medvedev will be the one that will have the most influence on the direction of the country. We will have to wait and see what he will do with his new found position as president.

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Lenin’s body may finally be taken out of its Tomb

The body of Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the Great October Revolution, which has been resting in Kremlin’s Mausoleum for decades, will be committed to earth with all honours, the way a country’s leader should be interred.
The Federal Memorial Complex where greatest personas of Russian and Soviet history will be interred is expected to be unveiled in Moscow by 2010 to coincide with the 65th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War. The cemetery will have several alleys. The main alley will comprise only 30 tombs.

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Why now? Why are the Russian desciding to celebrate his victory in the great patroitic war, I am sure that during Lenin's reign he accomplished alot, why noy just celebrate every significant battle that Lenin took part in.

Satellite Conspiracy

The satellite was destroyed on Wednesday, February 20 using a modified SM-3 missile fired by a U.S. Navy warship off the coast of Hawaii. The operation to shoot down the orbiting spacecraft was clearly designed to send a message to both Russia and China, America’s two major competitors in the race for military dominance in space. Interestingly, the SM-3 missile used to shoot down the satellite forms the terminal phase of the anti-ballistic missile system currently being developed by the Bush administration.



According to the Pentagon, the out-of-control satellite had to be brought down because the toxic fuel it was carrying, hydrazine, had frozen and so could not be used to guide the satellite into the Earth’s atmosphere to burn up. According to the Pentagon, the toxic fuel posed a significant risk to human health, given the impossibility of predicting where or when the satellite was going to come down. There was also some speculation on whether the satellite contained other potentially hazardous materials, such as a nuclear power source. The Pentagon certainly kept quiet about that.



Both Russia and China, along with many experts around the world, have dismissed the Pentagon’s hazardous fuel argument, saying there are many instances of satellites falling to Earth harmlessly before and it is unprecedented for such action to be taken against a rogue satellite. In 2002, for example, parts of a science satellite rained down over the Persian Gulf. The most spectacular case, however, of a satellite falling to Earth took place when Skylab, a 78-ton abandoned space laboratory belonging to NASA, fell from orbit in 1979. It came down in a fiery mass of debris strewn over the Indian Ocean and Australia. No one was harmed in that incident, but the event was a media sensation at the time.



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China and Russia have expressed their concern over the shooting down of the US satellite. There have been instances in the past of satellites falling safely. They are concerned that the satellite could have contained no technologies or even space weapons that the US is trying to keep a secret from Russia. This instance has definitely hurt our relationship with both China and Russia, and it may be a while until we actually find out what was on that satellite.

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Assessment Complete

Ukraine, free from Radars

Russia will no longer use Soviet-made radars in Ukraine due to its attempts to become NATO’s member. Russia’s lower House of Parliament voted to stop using the radars but extended deal that calls on the neighboring state to maintain Russia's intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The move reflects strong military industrial ties between the countries, the AP reported. Deputy Defense Minister Nikolai Pankov aid that Ukraine’s strong will to join NATO had made the military to reconsider the agreement.

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With Ukraine's constant push to become part of NATO, it is almost as if Russia just now recognized their "rights" as a country. This removing of satellites and radars that have monitoring Ukraine for many years now shows some progress for both countries. Russia has decided to trust Ukraine enough to remove their equipment, and Ukraine has gained enough attention to be recognized. For the most part I am unsure if the radars were doing much good seeing how they were left over from the Soviet Union. With inaccurate readings it was best they were removed before the "untrue" readings sparked unnecessary conflict between the countries. This proved as a major step for both countries, and will hopefully become a peaceful relation for both countries.

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Can you communicate with the nether world?

Sesnational news from the spirit-world came just the day 2 planes crashed in Russia. While Federal Security Service staff was clearing away the wreckage in the places of the accident in Rostov and Tula regions, the scientists of Saint Petersburg already knew that was an act of terrorism. They got interested strange sounds heard in the ultra short waves that are free from radio signal. When the scientists scrolled down the record, they were astounded. It said: That was a terrorist”.

That was a sensation. The words were replayed on “Saint Petersburg Radio” air. Non-believers finally realized that the other world really exists.

A University of Radio technique professor Artem Mikheev got interested in this question. He found “Russian Instrumental Transcommunication” – an organization aimed to cooperate with the nether world.

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Russian Prime Minister Jailed

Former Russian minister Yevgeny Adamov has been sentenced to five and a half years in prison for abusing his office and embezzling more than $30m. On Tuesday, the former atomic energy minister was found guilty of setting up a criminal gang, illegally seizing property and acting against the state.

Adamov, who denied the charges, was arrested in Switzerland in 2005 after a US request, but extradited to Russia. The US accuses him of embezzling $9m it donated to improve nuclear safety. The US had also requested his extradition.

A Russian prosecutor had asked the court to sentence Adamov, who served as minister from 1998 to 2001, to nine years in jail.

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This could be one of the major reasons Russia's finances have become erratic. Now that they have identified where the missing money has gone, hopefully they can get themselves back on track. If Russia was smart they would start looking more closely into where and how the governments money is spent. This would help their economy and would help stabilize all of the redistributing of budgets.

To look at the real picture though, there is always the temptation for self-gain when one is in politics. With a system like Russia, where most of the ministers and such are allowed to be a step above the law, the temptation only grows. With the loose style the politicians are allowed to rule in, it is not extremely surprising to see someone gaining some pocket change.

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Khodorkovsky ends hunger strike

Jailed Russian tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky said on Monday he had ended a hunger strike he began last month in protest at the treatment of a jailed colleague who is gravely ill with HIV/AIDS

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The food given in prison is terrible, nobody no matter what you did deserves to eat the food they serve, this man stood for what he believed a maybe his protest will be a success.

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And the debt continues...

MOSCOW (Thomson Financial) - Russian gas monopoly Gazprom and Ukraine have failed to reach a deal on resolving a dispute over debts owed by Kiev for Russian natural gas, but talks will continue, news agencies reported.

'The meeting is finished. Talks will continue,' Gapzrom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov was quoted as saying by Interfax and RIA Novosti news agencies after talks between Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and Gazprom chief Alexei Miller.

On February 12, President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yushchenko announced a deal in principle to avert a threatened gas cut-off over Kiev's debts, but the agreement has yet to be finalised.


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The attempt to resolve the Ukrainian debt has failed. Yet again Russia is having to deal with money that is in debt to them. Here in the US we are generally the ones in debt, but apparently everyone owes Russia money. Russia must be at least fairly stable economically if they don't have to resolve these debts immediately. Whether or not these debts will be resolved in the near future has yet to be seen, but as of current Ukraine still owes money to Russia.

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Medvedev Ahead in the Polls...Surprise?

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin's anointed successor, Dmitry Medvedev, has the support of 70.4 percent of the voters and will easily win the presidential election next weekend, a poll on Thursday showed.

Strongly backed by both the Kremlin and state-controlled media Medvedev, who is first deputy prime minister, leads his nearest challenger by a healthy margin, pollster VTsIOM said.

Nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky is Medvedev's nearest rival with 10.7 percent support, followed by Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov at 10.3 percent, VTsIOM said.

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The election is fast approaching in Russia and as early indications showed Dmitry Medvedev is a shoe in. Seventy percent in polls is a large margin over the next closest competitor with only ten percent. The high percentage of support is an example of the power that Putin has over the country by suggesting who the next leader be. For example if President Bush were to come out and say that he supported McCain for the next president, would McCain suddenly be in the lead with 70%? That would most likely not be the case. Because of Putin's pull we must ask ourselves is it because of a high legitimacy of the government or is it out of pure fear?

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Algeria plans to return 15 fighter jets to Russia

Algeria wants to return 15 fighter jets it bought from Russia because of their poor quality, the Kommersant daily reported on Monday, citing an official from...

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The world today is obsessed with creating technology cheaper, but at good quality when he disscover that russia is producing things that are not as good quality, it makes me wonder if is it just laziness or is it that our level of standards are decreasing.

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Presidents of Georgia and Russia to meet

One of the main topics of the meeting that will take place between Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow today will be the restoration of Georgia's territorial integrity, Georgian Foreign Minister Davit Bakradze announced today. Saakashvili has already flown out to Moscow. Bakradze is also looking forward to constructive meetings regarding the two countries' bilateral relations, while harboring some "cautious optimism" on a number of matters. The Foreign Minister hopes that the meeting of the two leaders will give some concrete positive results.

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• These two countries have been through alot in the past, it is good to see that russia is trying to help stregthen Georgia's territorial integrity, instead of engaging into a conflict.

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Russian Arms Deals

Algeria wants to return 15 fighter jets it bought fromRussia because of their poor quality, the Kommersant daily reported on Monday,citing an official from Russia's state United Aerospace Corporation.

The official said Russia was proposing to take back the
MiG-29 jets, which were delivered to Algeria in 2006 and 2007, but only if Algeria bought more modern and expensive planes such as the MiG-29M2 or the MiG-35.

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika was to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for talks on "military cooperation" in the Kremlin on Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told AFP, without giving further details.

In return for Russia agreeing to cancel Algeria's Soviet-era debts, Algerian authorities bought Russian arms worth 6.3 billion dollars, including 3.5 billion dollars in fighter jets, during a visit by Putin to Algeria in 2006.

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After Russia erased the debt of Algeria, there was an agreement that Algeria would buy arms from Russia. If Russia is trying to make quick arms money, it would probably be easier for them to sell up to date equitment. These jets they tried to pass of on Algeria were made and used in the 1980's, most of the planes have been used and they are falling apart. Russia needs to find a new route of money making, because thier planes are being returned. So now they have lost money, and they are trying to keep the algerian buisness by selling them only slightly better planes.

The planes Russia is selling are not even remotely comparable to the technology available today. I predict that Algeria and many other countries may switch to buying French weapons that are better in quality. This would force the Russia economy to focus on more up to date products.

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Unrest due to EU mission to Kosovo

Russia said on Wednesday, Feb. 20, that sending an EU mission to Kovoso would be a breach of international law, and called the plan symbolic of the West's double standard in recognizing Kosovo's independence from Serbia.

The European Union has already agreed to send a mission to Kosovo, consisting of some 2,000 police officers, justice and customs officials to aid and train authorities there and help stabilize the region following Kosovo's declaration of independence.

Russia on Wednesday said Kosovo's proclamation of independence was a "gross violation" of international law and said the EU mission had no legal basis since the decision was made without approval from the U.N. Security Council.

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Russia is again upset at the actions of the EU over the issue with Kosovo. Due to actions of the EU Russia may become hostile to some of its members or use its power in the UN in the future for its good rather than the good of the world. It will be interesting to see what happens over this violation of international law, and whether or not the EU will face consequences for their actions.

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Assessment Complete

Russia Criticises Iran

"We don't approve of Iran's permanent demonstration of its intentions to develop its rocket sector and continue to enrich uranium," Mr Lavrov said. Mr Lavrov said Iran should refrain from raising international tensions.

Iran has been trying to develop the nuclear fuel capabilities and earlier this month fired a rocket into space. "It's impossible to ignore the fact that problems with Iran's nuclear programme have arisen in recent years," Mr Lavrov was quoted by Russia's Interfax news agency as saying.

"While they haven't been resolved it would be better to refrain from actions that raise tensions and create the impression Iran is ignoring the international community," he said. Mr Lavrov was speaking as he travelled back from an EU-Russia meeting in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

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So Russia disagrees with Iran trying to "show off" their nuclear rockets. I find this entire situation extremely humorous. I don't know what Russia was thinking when THEY sold Iran Uranium. Of course I guess you could say they thought they were using it for peaceful purposes. However, either Russia is extremely blind, or they are trying to cover up for their mistakes.

This could be a way of mending some relations with the West, by appearing to care about Iran's nuclear problems. I seriously doubt it though. There is no way that Russia will get away with saying they knew nothing about Iran's missile program. This recent stance on the issue will not clear their name from creating the problem.

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Peace on Earth and in Space...

The White House has rejected a joint Sino-Russian proposal for an international treaty to ban the deployment of weapons in outer space.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov presented the draft treaty to the UN-sponsored annual Geneva Disarmament Conference on Tuesday.

"Without preventing an arms race in space, international security will be wanting," Lavrov told the conference.

However, being critical of the Russian-Chinese initiative, especially following China's anti-satellite missile tests last year, the US rejected the new proposal.

"The US opposes the development of new legal regimes or other restrictions that seek to prohibit or limit access to or use of space," said the White House spokeswoman Dana Perino on Tuesday.

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All Russia wants is for the world to live in peace in space, but the US won't give it too them. Russia and China recently set out to ban weapons in outer space. This is generally good since it shows that they don't want to start violence, but apparently the US feels that it is better if we don't ban weapons in space.

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Watch where your pointing that missile!

Russian President Vladimir Putin has again warned his country could target its neighbours if they host the United States' missile shield.

At what is likely to be his final media conference as President, Mr Putin has answered questions for more than four and a half hours.

He has repeatedly returned to the issue of Russia's national security.

Mr Putin has talked of the proposed US missile defence shield, and how some of its facilities would be based in the Czech Republic and Poland.

The missiles could pose a threat to Russia, he has told the conference; in response, Russia may have to redirect some of its missiles at those countries...

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It's understandable for Russia to be worried. I would be worried if my neighbor set up a missile that could be fired at me. It will be interesting to see how countries such as the Czech Republic and Poland take these warnings. If they do set up missiles to help protect the US Russia could target them, and if they don't help the US the US may become hostile towards them. Sounds Poland and the Czech Republic have a little predicament.

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Russia is against Kosovo Sanctions

But Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters secession would be a mistake and everything possible should be done to "prevent negative developments". Speaking after talks with EU officials, Mr Lavrov accused foreign powers of pushing Kosovo towards independence.

The breakaway Serbian province is expected to make a
declaration soon, possibly at the weekend. EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said Kosovo needed stability. "We hope we will be able to convince Russia that the [current] situation is unsustainable," she said.

A civilian police and justice mission for Kosovo is expected to be given the go-ahead by EU member states by the end of the week. A senior official told the BBC's Oana Lungescu in Brussels that deployment of the 1,800 staff would be staggered over four months.

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Russian representatives has said that despite the increasing tensions over Kosovo's independence that they will not impose sanctions. Though Russia has said it will not impose sanctions, Kosovo's independence is sure to shake them up a bit. Kosovo is planning to annouce thier independence this weekend. Russia feels as though it is the push of the Western world rather than what Kosovo's people want. Whichever may be true, This will increase tensions between the Western world and Russia. This conflict has the momentum to tear Kosovo apart, and wrap major pieces of the world in it. A major power struggle could irrupt depending on how Kosovo's indepence is announced.


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Russia and Ukraine Strike Gas Deal

MOSCOW — Russian and Ukrainian leaders on Tuesday agreed to settle a dispute over Ukraine's gas debt, avoiding a threatened cutoff in supplies that had rattled consumers in the European Union.
"We have agreed that Ukraine will start paying off the debt starting Thursday," Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said at a news conference after four hours of talks at the Kremlin.
The agreement was announced a few minutes after 6 p.m., the time Russia's state-controlled natural gas monopoly Gazprom had set for cutting off Russian gas to Ukraine if the dispute was not settled.

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Gas prices are one of the most controversial issues of our time. Currently

gas prices are rising in the United States, but since Russia settled a dispute

with Ukrain the problems with the United States faced could never possibly

occur.

Russian woman easily delivers gigantic baby

A boy weighing 6.1 kilos (13.45 lb) and 63 cm (24.8 in) long was born in Khabarovsk, a city in the Far East of Russia. The baby and his mother are fine, doctors said. “The woman gave birth to the baby through Cesarean section. This is her sixth child,” a doctor said.

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During this century the world has experience babies that were premature and women that gave birth to numerous chrildren but never have we experienced a baby that weighted 17 pounds this finding is so rare it is unhumane.

Russia writes off $12bn Iraq debt

MOSCOW, Feb 11: Russia on Monday forgave nearly all the $12.9 billion debt owed it by Iraq and voiced hopes of increased Russian investment in the war-torn country, news agencies quoted Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin as saying. The amount forgiven — $12 billion — came to 93...

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In this stage of life the United States is currently in trillon dollars in debt we constly continue spending, in Russia's circumstance they forgave Iran of a debt that would take decades to pay back all for hopes that their investments will increase in the their country.

Russia and China Make Space Arms Deal

At a disarmament conference in Geneva, Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov said world security would suffer if an arms race in space was not stopped. The draft treaty would prohibit the deployment of weapons in space and the use or threat of force against satellites or other craft, he said.

The United States has long opposed being bound by such
an agreement. Correspondents say tensions have increased in recent years over US plans for a new generation of missile shields. In particular, Moscow is opposed of the country's plans to build part of its new system in Poland and the Czech
Republic.

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It appears that through this new agreement they are trying to limit the US from having any weapons in outer space. Any buildup un weapons in outer space would only make violence worse. It could also trigger a massive arms race across the western world and countries such as; Russia and North Korea. These conditions would put the world into an extreme lockdown state, since at any time weapons could fire on the US or any where else in the world at any moment. This would further strain relations and cause many intense "battles'.

Whether peace is Russia's real purpose for this agreement is unclear. However it is probably best not to have any significant weapons in space.

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Russia's got the money!

MOSCOW — Iraq’s foreign minister won a long-sought agreement on Monday to write off most of Iraq’s $12.9 billion in debt to Russia, much of it dating to before the first gulf war when Saddam Hussein government purchased Soviet weapons.


Russia had, in principle, agreed to write off the debt as far back as 2004 but had been dragging its feet hoping for assurances that the United States-backed government in Baghdad would honor a large Russian oil claim, also dating to the Hussein era.


On Monday, Iraq’s foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, offered no public guarantees. Russian officials said they had won an assurance of favorable treatment, at least. In exchange, Russia will write off all but $900 million of the debt. Separately, Russia agreed to invest $4 billion in Iraq, including the Iraqi oil industry.

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I don't know if it's just me, but 12.9 billion dollars seems like a lot. I know that some of this money is from questionable weapon purchases from sometime ago, but it does say something about Russia and their progression to forgive Iraq of these debts. Some might see Russia in a more positive light now that they know that they are willing to forgive a struggling country of large debts. Although it put them in a positive light this act could possibly hurt their economy. A substantial loss is not good for anyone's economy, and who knows how this will affect Russia.

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Assessment Complete

Masonic Conspiracy...in Russia...?

Perhaps nothing in Russia can whip up public hysteria like the notion of a Masonic conspiracy to take over the country. The word "democrat" has also become a widely pejorative term, and long hair on men is certainly a no-no for much of the Russian public.

Now meet Andrei Bogdanov, the presidential candidate with long, curly hair who heads up the country's largest Masonic lodge as well as the Democratic Party of Russia.

At 38, Bogdanov is Russia's youngest-ever presidential candidate, and he is running a long-shot campaign in the March 2 election that First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, President Vladimir Putin's preferred candidate, is all but guaranteed to win.

Read on...

Now a Masonic conspiracy may be a long shot, but a democrat not favored by Putin winning the election is just as long a shot. Although Medvedev is pretty much guaranteed to win, there are more than one candidates running. Bogdanov if elected would be a large change for Russia, from the long hair to the fact that he would be the youngest president ever. This article points out some things that might help us realize why the Russian people listen to Putin so obediently.

For example who likes change? Most of society is opposed to change and unless society is ready to overthrow the government they don't like change either. When Putin selects someone to proceed him the citizens feel that this would be the least amount of change for them, making Medvedev the ideal candidate and Bogdanov a change society might not be willing to take.

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Oil Struggles

Gazprom said only gas piped from Russia would be affected which would make up around 25% of Ukraine's total supply. A dispute in January 2006 disrupted exports to several European countries.

Much of Europe is reliant on Russian gas piped through Ukraine but the EU says it has been assured by Gazprom its supplies will not be affected. Gazprom spokesman Ilya Kochevrin told the BBC News website that the company had informed the European Commission about the dispute.

"We think we got strong support for our position and hopefully we can settle this very soon," he said.

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Russia provides 25% of Ukraine's oil, this intern provides Russia with a good economic outcome. Russia forcing the Ukraine to pay back their debt is really not realistic. A country that owes another money generally cannot pay them back on a moments notice. I believe it would be a very poor decision on Russia's part to try to collect their money from Ukraine.

One, this could negatively affect Russia's economy by cutting the oil. Two, Russia making countries more agitated, especially those that contribute to your economy, is not the best of ideas. It seems like now every time we turn around Russia is loosing an ally here, or causing more frustration and conflict with its surrounding countries. Soon Russia will end up losing all the international legitimacy and power it has gained back. Its hard to gain an ally once lost.

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Russia Upset Over EU Actions

Russia warned yesterday that the European Union would set a dangerous precedent in international law and harm the authority of the United Nations by recognising Kosovo's independence and sending a security mission to Serbia's break-away province.

"It is quite obvious that such a development would create a serious negative precedent from the point of view of international law," Vladimir Chizhov, Russia's ambassador to the EU, told a news briefing. "It will be seen as a precedent by many people, perhaps far too many people, across the world."

Mr Chizhov was speaking shortly after the EU admitted defeat in its efforts to persuade Serbia's government to send a delegation to Brussels today to sign an interim political agreement on free trade and visa liberalisation.

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Russia has in the past opposed Kosovo's independence until all parties involved are satisfied. They have threatened in the past to veto any resolutions that do not satisfy both Belgrade and Kosovo Albanians. They feel that the EU recognizing Kosovo as independent will set a dangerous precedent, which could be dangerous in the future.

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No Britain Monitors

The Organization for Security Cooperation in Europe refused to monitor presidential elections in Russia which are set to take place on March 2. The letter sent to Russia’s parliament (the State Duma) said that the organization had been forced to decline Moscow’s invitation to observe the elections of the Russian president.

"We made every effort in good faith to deploy our mission, even under the conditions imposed by the Russian authorities," Christian Strohal, director of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, said in a statement.

"We have a responsibility to all 56 participating states to fulfill our mandate, and the Russian Federation has created limitations that are not conducive to undertaking election observation in accordance with it."

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This series of problems with monitors and the probation of Kasyanov to run have raised suspicion world wide. What started as a clean election for Russia and all countries happy to see a peaceful exchange of power have turned. These attitudes have changed now that there is a definite question of corruption.

Britain has refused to send monitors to the election. This not only increases the struggles between Russia and Britain, but it also shows that Russia is not willing to cooperate with western countries. With the lack of monitors, the election is increasingly questionable and now Russia can pretty much swing the election however they want.

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Only One Real Choice

The only significant challenger of Dmitry Medvedev former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov who has a little chance to win the March, 2. elections was not allowed to the ballot, the AP reports. That could be a great chance for Kremlin critics to call elections unfair and undemocratic

But Nikolai Konkin, secretary of the Central Elections Commission, said a check of the signatures found more than 80,000 to be invalid. In Russia presidential aspirants not affiliated with political parties must submit 2 million signatures supporting their bid to get on the ballot. Kasyanov's campaign said it turned in 2,067,000 signatures.

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This article shows that the elections are already showing a hint of scandal. It seems as though no matter what, no one, but Medvedev will have a fighting chance in this election. Even though Kasyanov went through the trouble of getting the unheard of 2,000,000 signitures , the government still shot him down and he is unable to run. This was the only challenger that could compete with Medvedev. So it is clear now that the person the people and the government wants is Medvedev. However, if you wanted another choice for president, well good luck.

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Coincidence?

A senior Russian diplomat says Iran's test launch of a rocket earlier this week has raised "suspicions" about the country's nuclear program.

Russian news agencies quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov Wednesday as saying long-range rockets are one of the components of a nuclear weapons program.

Iran inaugurated its first major space center Monday and launched a new rocket capable of carrying a first domestic-built satellite into orbit.

Iran has been pursuing a space program for several years. It says it wants to launch satellites for research and telecommunications.

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The Russian agencies are now suspicious of the activities involving rockets, but there was not much suspicion when they sent them 8 loads of uranium. This is a rather large coincidence that the Russian government sent Iran Uranium and Iran is now testing rockets. Iran says that this is just an extension of their space program, but only time can tell their true intentions of having rockets and nuclear material.

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No fair elections in Russia - opposition challenger

The only outspoken Kremlin critic in Russia's presidential election next month said on Monday the vote could not be fair because the country was run by 'thieves'. Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov has said the campaign is skewed in favour of Dmitry Medvedev, who has been overwhelming favourite to win since outgoing President Vladimir Putin endorsed him as his successor. 'Elections in Russia can't be fair,' Zyuganov told reporters in Moscow as he unveiled his election programme. 'Because privatisation itself was unfair, because everything has been stolen and because thieves can't...

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In contrary to Russia the United states is also having there Presidential

election soon, there has been many unecessary comments made for each

candidate, but the sad this is that in Russia candidates bad mouth each other,

but what most people in russia and the US do not undertand is that these

comments could affect each others lives in a positive or negative way.

Did the US want nuclear destruction of Russia?

The Lenticular Reentry Vehicle

Above is a picture of the Lenticular Reentry Vehicle (LRV). This was a flying saucer type aircraft that was designed by the US Air Force in the 50's. The goal of this plane was to go up to high altitudes, practically outer space, and bomb the Soviet Union with nuclear bombs. All of this was revealed by declassified files in 1997, and made popular by a Popular Mechanics Article in 2000. So the question is raised, how far would the US have gone durring the Cold War.

Learn more about the LRV

View the Pravda pics

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