... tomorrow.
It will more than likely be the self governance of women.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Leave the Dessenters Alone, Vladimir. Your party is polled to receive 60% of the vote. Why make Russia appear to be difficult. Stop.
In it's lead up to war with The West, Russia is giving the world reason for pause on the issue of Human Rights.
There is no reasonable explanation for any political entity to be oppressed in Russia. The current President is well liked and supported by the Duma.
There is every reason for Russia to be generous to dessenters and allow them to prove they have a better plan for Russia. I doubt they ever could.
Russia has been forced to pull up it's welcome mat because of the extremist agenda of Bush that surplanted a missile shield at Russia's borders. It's ridiculous to realize Russia should welcome it and even more stupid to realize after it's built it won't be bombed into oblivion.
Click on picture to enlarge.
Launch of an RS-18 ballistic missile. INFOgraphics
15:38
07/ 11/ 2007
A successful test launch of an RS-18 (NATO reporting name SS-19 Stiletto) has allowed Russia to extend its service life to 31 years.
Russia will bomb it. Yep.
RIA Novosti
Russia begins mass production of Mi-28N Night Hunter attack helicopters. INFOgraphics
01/ 11/ 2007
The Night Hunter is primarily designed to locate and destroy enemy armored vehicles, personnel, small surface ships, and low-speed air targets and fortifications, and to lay mine fields day or night in adverse weather conditions.
http://en.rian.ru/infographics/20071101/86210156.html
MiG-31 modernization. INFOgraphics
21/ 11/ 2007
The interceptor is equipped with two D-30F6 turbofan two-shaft engines with a common afterburner and variable supersonic nozzle, which allow the aircraft to fly at supersonic speeds of up to Mach 2.83.
The modernized interceptor will also feature unique air-to-air missiles capable of hitting targets at ranges exceeding 200 kilometers (125 miles), including aircraft with stealth capabilities, cruise missiles, and supersonic aircraft.
http://en.rian.ru/infographics/20071121/88998069.html
Appeals chamber declines to bar Putin from December poll
24/ 11/ 2007
MOSCOW, November 24 (RIA Novosti) - The Appeals Chamber of Russia's Supreme Court has rejected the demand by a Russian opposition party that the president be denied the right to run in next month's parliamentary vote.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court threw out the claim of the Union of Right Forces (SPS), accusing the president of using administrative resources to promote the ruling United Russia party.
"The party appealed to the Supreme Court to demand that Vladimir Putin be removed from United Russia's list of candidates for the State Duma for repeated violations of the law," SPS leader Nikita Belykh said earlier.
Vladimir Putin tops ruling United Russia's list of candidates for the December 2 parliamentary elections to the lower house. Critics accuse Putin of using administrative resources to promote the party.
Belykh said the Kremlin had "used all opportunities provided by the state machinery" to lessen the chances of other parties.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20071124/89401849.html
Poland's new PM may visit Moscow soon
24/ 11/ 2007
WARSAW, November 24 (RIA Novosti) - Poland's new prime minister said on Saturday he might visit Moscow in the foreseeable future.
Poland's parliament voted earlier on Saturday to endorse the government of new Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Deputies of the lower house (Sejm) voted 238 to 204, with two abstentions, to support the new cabinet.
"You will be pleasantly surprised by how quickly Polish-Russian relations will improve," Donald Tusk told reporters.
He said it was too early to talk about a time frame for his visit to Moscow, but "that will happen very soon," he added.
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said he would meet with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in Brussels on December 6.
Tusk said earlier today that Polish-Russian relations could be improved within 24 hours.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20071124/89422919.html
Russia slams U.S. written proposals on missile shield, CFE
23/ 11/ 2007
MOSCOW, November 23 (RIA Novosti) - The United States has gone back on previous initiatives concerning its missile shield in Europe in a written proposal earlier received by Russia, a source in Russia's Foreign Ministry said Friday.
Russia's foreign and defense ministers held talks on October 12 with their U.S. counterparts in Moscow, at which the U.S. side made 'counter proposals' in a bid to allay Russia's concerns over Washington's missile shield plans in Europe, including inviting Russian experts to inspect mooted missile defense sites.
"This time [in written proposals], there is no mention of a joint assessment of threats, the presence of Russian experts at U.S. missile defense sites in Europe. The document does not confirm U.S. willingness not to activate the [missile] shield if there is no real threat," the source said.
The United States plans to deploy interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic. Moscow views the plans as a threat to its national security.
"Everything is so vague that it is hard to discern previous initiatives in the document," the source said.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20071123/89356224.html
Moscow, New Delhi set to develop a fifth-generation fighter
21/ 11/ 2007
MOSCOW. (Yury Zaitsev for RIA Novosti) - Although the Russian Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29 Fulcrum air-superiority fighter with a vectored-thrust engine is currently stealing the limelight at the Dubai Air Show 2007, this warplane will become obsolete in the foreseeable future.
Fifth-generation fighters featuring entirely new engineering solutions will form the mainstay of national air forces in the 21st century.
On November 15, Russia's Sukhoi Military Aviation Complex and the Indian Defense Ministry launched a new round of talks on developing a fifth-generation fighter.
On October 18, Russian President Vladimir Putin told a televised news conference that Moscow would start developing such warplanes by 2015. Before that, First Deputy Prime Minister and former Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said a prototype fifth-generation fighter would perform its maiden flight in 2009, and that serial production would commence in early 2010. But most experts were not so optimistic and predicted that the first warplane in this category would not appear before 2012-2014, which is supported by President Putin's statement.
However, the world's first fifth-generation fighter, the prototype US F-22 Raptor fighter, first took off on September 7, 1997. Two weeks later, Russia's Sukhoi Su-47 Berkut, another prototype fifth-generation fighter, flew for the first time.
http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20071121/88962354.html
Nuclear fuel will soon be supplied to Bushehr
23/ 11/ 2007
MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Pyotr Goncharov) - The recent report by Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mohamed ElBaradei is similar to the previous one but for a sensational detail.
It says that the IAEA is getting ready to verify and seal the nuclear fuel which will be supplied to the Bushehr nuclear power plant on November 26, 2007. This procedure will precede the delivery of fuel from Russia to Iran.
This suggests that the nuclear plant will be commissioned earlier than planned - at the end of next year. This is why the delivery of fuel is being rushed. Otherwise, why conduct the verification procedure and store sealed nuclear fuel? Its quality will deteriorate because of radioactivity. Moreover, the Tvel Corporation, a Russian manufacturer of fuel, is already sustaining losses because it had to suspend the first full load of fuel for the plant.
For these reasons, it seems logical that the plant will be commissioned earlier - say the operational commissioning will take place in the fall, and the physical one closer to summer. September 2008 was already mentioned as the date of the plant's physical commissioning.
This scenario is quite probable but...
Nuclear fuel is loaded into reactors six months before the physical commissioning. If the plant is commissioned in September, fuel should be loaded in March. It will be supplied in consignments over a period of a month and a half to two months.
http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20071123/89330317.html
Putin says Russia will not tolerate NATO military build up - 2
20/ 11/ 2007
(Adds Putin's comments, details in paras 4-6, 11-15)
MOSCOW, November 20 (RIA Novosti) - President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russia would not ignore NATO's military build up near its borders and would provide an adequate response to any "muscle-flexing."
"In violation of previous agreements, NATO members' military resources are being built up next to our borders," Putin said at a Defense Ministry meeting with senior military staff. "Certainly, we cannot allow ourselves to remain indifferent to this obvious muscle-flexing."
He said Russia had been forced to impose a moratorium on the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty as the majority of other signatories had failed to ratify an adapted version of the cold war-era agreement.
The modified version of the 1990 CFE treaty, which Western countries consider a cornerstone of European security, was signed on November 19, 1999 by all NATO countries except Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Slovenia.
Only Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan have ratified the adapted version of the document, while NATO countries have insisted on Russia's withdrawal from Moldova and Georgia as a condition for their ratification of the modified CFE Treaty.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20071120/88831563.html
Russian businessman keeps Euro 2008 Mercedes pledge to Croatia
22/ 11/ 2007
MOSCOW, November 22 (RIA Novosti) - A LUKoil vice-president announced on Thursday that he would keep his promise to give Mercedes cars to Croatian players after the Balkan side beat England 3-2 at Wembley.
Leonid Fedun, who is also the owner of Spartak Moscow, pledged to give a Mercedes to the four best Croatian players in the event of the side winning their Euro 2008 tie in London on Wednesday night.
The move came after Russia had lost 2-1 to Israel on Saturday, leaving the national side needing a win in Andorra coupled with an England defeat to progress to the final stage of the tournament, to be held in Austria and Switzerland next summer.
"I will fulfill my promise 100%," said Fedun, adding that it was up to the Croatians to decide which players received the cars.
"It would be logical to suppose that Pletikosa [who is also Spartak's goalkeeper] and the three players who scored will get them," the businessman added.
Russia beat Andorra 1-0 to book their place at Euro 2008.
http://en.rian.ru/sports/20071122/89120466.html
Dissenters clash with police in central Moscow
24/ 11/ 2007
MOSCOW, November 24 (RIA Novosti) - Protesters clashed with police during an authorized opposition rally in central Moscow on Saturday.
City authorities had given the go-ahead for a meeting, but turned down a request for a march.
After the rally, known as Dissenters' March, a group of about 20 people broke through police lines and walked into Moscow's major road, the Garden Ring.
Police detained several demonstrators.
City authorities said fewer than 1,000 people had turned up for the meeting, with about 300 reporters covering the event.
Earlier, Garry Kasparov, a leading figure in the opposition movement The Other Russia, said the Dissenters' March would be held in Moscow November 24 and in St. Petersburg November 25.
The Other Russia organization includes the People's Patriotic Union, led by former premier Mikhail Kasyanov, the banned National Bolshevik Party, headed by Russian writer Eduard Limonov, as well as chess grandmaster Kasparov's United Civil Front.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20071124/89417074.html
Pro-Kremlin party could secure about 60% of Dec. vote - survey
20/ 11/ 2007
MOSCOW, November 20 (RIA Novosti) - More than half of respondents in a recent opinion poll said they would vote for the Kremlin-backed United Russia party at next month's parliamentary elections.
The Public Opinion Foundation said 57% of those surveyed November 17-18 said they would back the ruling party. The Communists and Liberal Democrats are the only other parties likely to make it into parliament, with 8% each, according to the pollster.
A Just Russia, a new party seen as another Kremlin project to poach votes from leftist forces, was supported by 5% of respondents and is close to overcoming the 7% Duma threshold, the opinion center said.
Other parties, including the liberal Yabloko and Union of Right Forces (SPS) - champions of western-style capitalism and free market reforms in the 1990s under Boris Yeltsin - received 1% of respondents' support.
SPS has unsuccessfully sought via a court to have President Vladimir Putin, who tops United Russia's list of candidates, barred from running in the December elections. It accused the president of using administrative resources to promote the party.
Three thousand people took part in the survey conducted across Russia. Statistical error does not exceed 2.5%, the foundation said.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20071120/88832022.html
Opposition leaders detained at protest rally in Moscow
24/ 11/ 2007
MOSCOW, November 24 (RIA Novosti) - Russian opposition leaders Garry Kasparov and Eduard Limonov were detained after a protest meeting in central Moscow, city police said on Saturday.
"Kasparov and Limonov were detained for violating meeting procedure rules, and were taken to the Krasnoselsky Borough police station," a spokesman for the Moscow city Internal Affairs Main Administration said.
Police previously denied that they had been detained.
Protesters clashed with police during an authorized opposition rally in central Moscow earlier on Saturday.
City authorities had given the go-ahead for a meeting, but turned down a request for a march.
After the rally, known as Dissenters' March, a group of about 20 people broke through police lines and walked onto Moscow's major road, the Garden Ring.
Police detained several demonstrators.
City authorities said fewer than 1,000 people had turned up for the meeting, with about 300 reporters covering the event.
Earlier, Garry Kasparov, a leading figure in the opposition movement The Other Russia, said the Dissenters' March would be held in Moscow November 24 and in St. Petersburg November 25.
The Other Russia organization includes the People's Patriotic Union, led by former premier Mikhail Kasyanov, the banned National Bolshevik Party, headed by Russian writer Eduard Limonov, as well as chess grandmaster Kasparov's United Civil Front.
Human rights advocates in Russia and abroad have criticized the Kremlin for tightening its grip on democracy and human rights ever since Vladimir Putin became president in 2000.
However, polls show that the majority of Russians support the country's leader, citing the stability and economic growth Russia that has enjoyed under his rule.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20071124/89427826.html
Russian opposition candidate dies of his wounds
24/ 11/ 2007
MAKHACHKALA, November 24 (RIA Novosti) -- A parliamentary candidate has died after being shot and seriously wounded in an apparent assassination attempt in southern Russia, a local health official said on Saturday.
Farid Babayev, the leader of the liberal Yabloko party in the Republic of Daghestan, sustained four gunshot wounds, including one to the head, on Wednesday night.
"Babayev died of his wounds without regaining consciousness," he said.
Babayev was shot by unknown assailants at the entranceway of his apartment block in Makhachkala, the capital of the North Caucasus republic.
Yabloko is running in the December 2 election to the State Duma.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20071124/89399257.html
Poland to discuss missile shield with U.S. after consulting NATO
23/ 11/ 2007
WARSAW, November 23 (RIA Novosti) - Poland will be ready to resume dialogue with the United States on the missile defense issue after consultations with NATO and neighboring states, the prime minister said on Friday.
"We are aware of the political and military weight of the [U.S.] missile defense initiative," Donald Tusk said in a policy speech to parliament. "We will be ready to conduct further negotiations on the issue after a series of consultations with NATO and some of our neighbors."
The premier, addressing the legislature for the first time since his Civic Platform party's election victory, was not specific about which neighbors Poland wants to consult with, but Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said Thursday he was in favor of further consultations with Russia.
Tusk earlier said his government had "no rigid doctrine regarding the deployment of a U.S. missile defense base in the country," and that issue was "open for all arguments for and against."
The center-right politician, widely expected to pursue warmer ties with Russia and Germany than under his predecessor Jaroslaw Kaczynski, said the new government would want to be certain that Warsaw will not finance a project that is not in the national security interest.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20071123/89328897.html
A Myanmar suicide for the advocates of sanctions
22/ 11/ 2007
MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Dmitry Kosyrev) - As expected, the annual summit of the ten South East Asian nations, which form ASEAN, focused on undemocratic Myanmar.
If the latter did not exist, the summit would have habitually produced a package of documents on economic integration in this part of the world. The conflict among the ten over Myanmar shows that integration, free trade and the like are too closely connected with ideology and other political changes in any region of the world.
This is what has happened at the summit. The Philippines, which is the most peripheral and alien ASEAN member, has warned its partners that if all of them do not compel Myanmar to establish a more democratic regime, its senate may decide not to endorse the ASEAN Charter. The latter has been the key event of the Singapore summit from the very start. It will not become valid if it is not ratified by every single ASEAN member.
http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20071122/89181420.html
Georgia says Russia failed to fulfill military pullout obligation
23/ 11/ 2007
TBILISI, November 23 (RIA Novosti) - Georgia's Foreign Ministry said Friday that Russia had not fulfilled all its obligations under previous agreements on the complete withdrawal of its military bases from the country.
The Georgian ministry said Moscow had not yet closed its base in Gudauta, in the zone of a conflict between Georgia and its breakaway region of Abkhazia.
"Despite the June 2001 announcement of the closure of the base in Gudauta, it had not been closed and is still functioning. Its infrastructure is used in the interests of the Russian Armed Forces," the ministry said.
According to some sources, about 400 personnel are still stationed at Gudauta, along with some combat and transport helicopters, various military vehicles, a fuel storage area, and some other facilities.
Moscow has never allowed international inspections of the base and has provided no data on suspected stockpiles of arms and ammunition. The Russian military also maintains the Bombora airfield, which is part of the Gudauta base complex.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20071123/89328738.html
Evraz Group secures $3.2 bln loan
23/ 11/ 2007
MOSCOW, November 23 (RIA Novosti) - Evraz Group S.A. [LSE: EVR], Russia's largest steel and mining group, said on Friday that it had secured a $3.2 billion credit facility, which will be used to repay a bridging loan and for corporate purposes.
The company said in a news release the loan, with an interest rate of LIBOR+1.8%, would be received in two tranches consisting of a "$2.7 billion five-year tranche" and "a $500 million three-year unsecured tranche."
The loan is guaranteed by Mastercroft Ltd and underwritten by a group of 10 banks, including ABN Amro, Barclays Capital, ING, Tokyo-Mitsubishi among others.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20071123/89316532.html
Turkey's first cloned sheep born at Istanbul University
22/ 11/ 2007
ANKARA, November 22 (RIA Novosti) - Scientists at Istanbul University announced they had successfully completed Turkey's first cloning project, local media said on Thursday.
Turkey's experiments with cloning began in 2005 and 69 cloned embryos were transplanted to eight ewes, two of which got pregnant. The sheep, named Oyali, was delivered by caesarean section in the university's veterinary teaching hospital.
"The newborn is in good condition," the project's chief, Sema Bilker, said.
The world's first cloned mammal was Dolly, a sheep born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1996. In 2003 she was put to sleep because of a progressive lung disease.
http://en.rian.ru/science/20071122/89073344.html
UN study urges ban on human clone research
13/ 11/ 2007
UN, November 13 (RIA Novosti) - UN experts have called for a ban on research into human cloning, saying that otherwise governments will need to draw up measures to protect clones from "potential abuse, prejudice and discrimination".
In its report, the Japan-based United Nations University Institute for Advanced Studies said a human clone could be produced before the international community has made its choice between banning reproductive human cloning and allowing strictly controlled cloning research for therapeutic purposes, including donor organs.
Dr. Chamundeeswari Kuppuswamy, one of the four authors of the report, said the UN might otherwise have to adopt a convention on clone rights.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20071113/87857126.html
Turkey's losses reach $300 bln over Kurdish conflict
23/ 11/ 2007
ANKARA, November 23 (RIA Novosti) - Turkey has sustained about $300 billion in losses from the 24-year long confrontation with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a Turkish government spokesman said on Friday.
"The total losses since 1984 from the PKK terrorists in Turkey are around $300 billion. Had this country used those funds for other purposes, it would now rank as the world's seventh largest power," Cemil Cicek said.
He said the PPK, outlawed in Turkey and labeled by the U.S., NATO and the EU as a terrorist organization, cannot exist without outside support.
"The PKK is a tool and pawn of international terrorism," he said, adding that Ankara "has received no support from abroad" in its fight against the separatists.
He also said a possible cross-border operation against Kurdish militants based in the north of Iraq would be directed solely against the PKK.
In mid-October, Turkey's parliament sanctioned military cross-border operations against PKK separatists following an earlier government request and despite opposition from Washington and Baghdad.
Last week, national media quoted Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as saying that the Turkish Army would launch a cross-border operation against Kurdish militants in northern Iraq before poor weather sets in.
However, the president of Iraq said earlier that the crisis on the Iraqi-Turkish border "is effectively over."
In an interview with the Cairo-based Al-Ahram weekly newspaper, Jalal Talabani said that an Iraqi delegation at a recent conference in Istanbul had managed to convince the Turkish leadership that Baghdad was "fighting against the Kurdistan Workers Party" based in northern Iraq.
The PKK has been fighting for autonomy status in southeast Turkey for nearly 25 years. The conflict has so far claimed about 40,000 lives.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20071123/89324513.html
Turkmen gas price for Russia could jump 30% in 2008 - Gazprom
23/ 11/ 2007
ASHGABAT, November 23 (RIA Novosti) - Turkmenistan plans to raise its natural gas price for Russia by at least 30% to $130 per 1,000 cubic meters next year, the CEO of Russian energy giant Gazprom said on Friday.
Turkmenistan supplies about 50 billion cu m of gas annually to Russia at $100 per 1,000 cu m under a 2006-2009 deal signed by Gazprom and the Central Asian state's late leader Saparmurat Niyazov.
"We have not given a final answer to our Turkmen colleagues... Talks will resume next week," Alexei Miller said following talks in the Turkmen capital, adding the company needed time to assess the consequences of the move.
The price rise will affect Ukraine, which buys Turkmen gas from Russia. Talks on a price formula for gas supplies to Ukraine in 2008 are under way between Moscow and Kiev.
From early 2006 Ukraine paid an average of $95 per 1,000 cu m for a mixture of Turkmen and Russian gas supplied at the border. After the Central Asian state hiked its gas price, the rate for Ukraine was raised to $130 per 1,000 cu m from January 1, 2007.
http://en.rian.ru/business/20071123/89317254.html
Search continues for missing Russian divers in Egypt
23/ 11/ 2007
MOSCOW, November 23 (RIA Novosti) - A total of 11 vessels are involved in the search for three Russian divers, who went missing on Wednesday while diving at the Elphinstone Reef in Egypt's Red Sea, Russia's honorary consul in Egypt said Friday.
"Helicopters are also taking part in the search," he said, adding that the rescue operation is being hampered by poor weather - strong winds and waves.
Three divers from Barnaul in Southern Siberia - Vladimir Bukhmiller, Sergei Gurba and Natalia Doronina - planned to dive at the Elphinstone Reef and according to a fourth member of the group, planned to dive to a depth of 90 meters (295 feet). Diving deeper than 40 meters (131 feet) is not permitted in Egypt.
Irina Tyurina of the Russian Union of Travel Industry said the incident was rare, as the three Russians were highly skilled divers, who decided to set a record by diving to a depth of 90 meters using an ordinary air mixture.
http://en.rian.ru/onlinenews/20071123/89339216.html
Litvinenko remembered on anniversary of death - 2
23/ 11/ 2007
(Adds new information about the status of Marina Litvinenko's lawsuit in paras 13-16)
LONDON, November 23 (RIA Novosti) - Relatives and friends have paid tribute to Alexander Litvinenko, a former FSB officer and Kremlin critic, who died in London exactly a year ago.
Litvinenko died after being poisoned with the radioactive element polonium-210. In a letter reportedly penned by Litvinenko on his deathbed, the dying man accused President Vladimir Putin of orchestrating his murder. The Kremlin strongly denied the accusation.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20071123/89329638.html
Orthodox Church warns against force in Penza sect standoff
23/ 11/ 2007
MOSCOW, November 23 (RIA Novosti) - The Orthodox Church has spoken out against using force in a standoff with a religious sect, who have sealed themselves in a cave to await the end of the world, the Russian church's chief spokesman said Friday.
The sect, which calls itself The True Russian Orthodox Church, was formed by one Father Pyotr, a 43-year-old diagnosed schizophrenic currently in custody. He is believed to have ordered his followers underground last week. The group of 28 adults and four children are threatening to set themselves on fire if police try to force them out.
"Persuasion and negotiations should be used, as people there [in the cave] are brainwashed and difficult to reason with," Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad said. "A violent solution should be avoided at all costs, it is very dangerous."
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20071123/89354573.html
Palestine, a suitcase without the handle
22/ 11/ 2007
MOSCOW. (Yevgeny Satanovsky for RIA Novosti) - Diplomats, policymakers, journalists and experts are all discussing the upcoming conference on the Middle East in Annapolis as if something depends on it.
Almost sixty years have passed since the world community started tackling the Palestinian problem, but it is further away from its resolution than ever before.
There is no other issue that attracts so much attention from politicians, diplomats, religious and public figures, and the media. Refugees from Palestine have received more money over the decades than any others. The Palestinians do not have a state, but this is not because they have been ignored. Quite the contrary, so many people have attended to this problem and so intensively that moving toward the goal has become more important than the result. There is no Palestinian state primarily because Yasser Arafat preferred to remain a revolutionary leader rather than the president of a small and poor country. None of his successors has a fraction of his power and the times have irreversibly changed.
The roadmap, which the conference is supposed to revive, has never had a chance to succeed, nor can it now be implemented. What success can one speak about at the peak of the civil war in Palestine, after HAMAS severed its agreement with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, an agreement, which was concluded on the Koran in the shade of the Kaaba? Only al-Qaeda and Iran can exert influence on the Palestinian radicals.
http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20071122/89055871.html
Arab countries to attend Mideast peace conference
23/ 11/ 2007
CAIRO, November 23 (RIA Novosti) - Arab countries have agreed to participate in a Middle East peace forum in the United States, foreign ministers of the Arab League said on Friday.
The conference, to be held in Annapolis, U.S., on November 27, will seek to make progress on the issue of Palestinian statehood.
"The Arab peace follow up group has decided to accept the invitation to attend the Annapolis Middle East peace conference at a ministerial level to discuss the peace process," Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said, adding that the Arab countries would be represented by their foreign ministers.
Arab countries urged the U.S. to include the issue of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on its agenda.
The leaders of Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian National Authority, who met on Thursday to coordinate positions for the U.S.-sponsored conference, said they were optimistic.
President Hosni Mubarak held separate meetings with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and King Abdullah II of Jordan in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas earlier urged the Arab countries "not to miss a historic chance and attend the forum."
Arab leaders previously expressed doubts over the conference, demanding a more specific agenda and questioning whether it will be effective given the current outbreak of violence in the region.
The Palestinians want a detailed agreement specifying each party's commitment concerning key points, such as future borders, the status of Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees, and Israeli settlements. Israel is looking for a more general guideline.
Israel has sought to retain control over East Jerusalem and key settlements in the West Bank as part of an eventual agreement.
Israel's prime minister, Ehud Olmert, said on Tuesday following a meeting with the Egyptian president that he expected a final peace deal to be signed with the Palestinians in 2008 shortly after the conference in the U.S.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20071123/89343091.html
continued….
There is no reasonable explanation for any political entity to be oppressed in Russia. The current President is well liked and supported by the Duma.
There is every reason for Russia to be generous to dessenters and allow them to prove they have a better plan for Russia. I doubt they ever could.
Russia has been forced to pull up it's welcome mat because of the extremist agenda of Bush that surplanted a missile shield at Russia's borders. It's ridiculous to realize Russia should welcome it and even more stupid to realize after it's built it won't be bombed into oblivion.
Click on picture to enlarge.
Launch of an RS-18 ballistic missile. INFOgraphics
15:38
07/ 11/ 2007
A successful test launch of an RS-18 (NATO reporting name SS-19 Stiletto) has allowed Russia to extend its service life to 31 years.
Russia will bomb it. Yep.
RIA Novosti
Russia begins mass production of Mi-28N Night Hunter attack helicopters. INFOgraphics
01/ 11/ 2007
The Night Hunter is primarily designed to locate and destroy enemy armored vehicles, personnel, small surface ships, and low-speed air targets and fortifications, and to lay mine fields day or night in adverse weather conditions.
http://en.rian.ru/infographics/20071101/86210156.html
MiG-31 modernization. INFOgraphics
21/ 11/ 2007
The interceptor is equipped with two D-30F6 turbofan two-shaft engines with a common afterburner and variable supersonic nozzle, which allow the aircraft to fly at supersonic speeds of up to Mach 2.83.
The modernized interceptor will also feature unique air-to-air missiles capable of hitting targets at ranges exceeding 200 kilometers (125 miles), including aircraft with stealth capabilities, cruise missiles, and supersonic aircraft.
http://en.rian.ru/infographics/20071121/88998069.html
Appeals chamber declines to bar Putin from December poll
24/ 11/ 2007
MOSCOW, November 24 (RIA Novosti) - The Appeals Chamber of Russia's Supreme Court has rejected the demand by a Russian opposition party that the president be denied the right to run in next month's parliamentary vote.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court threw out the claim of the Union of Right Forces (SPS), accusing the president of using administrative resources to promote the ruling United Russia party.
"The party appealed to the Supreme Court to demand that Vladimir Putin be removed from United Russia's list of candidates for the State Duma for repeated violations of the law," SPS leader Nikita Belykh said earlier.
Vladimir Putin tops ruling United Russia's list of candidates for the December 2 parliamentary elections to the lower house. Critics accuse Putin of using administrative resources to promote the party.
Belykh said the Kremlin had "used all opportunities provided by the state machinery" to lessen the chances of other parties.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20071124/89401849.html
Poland's new PM may visit Moscow soon
24/ 11/ 2007
WARSAW, November 24 (RIA Novosti) - Poland's new prime minister said on Saturday he might visit Moscow in the foreseeable future.
Poland's parliament voted earlier on Saturday to endorse the government of new Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Deputies of the lower house (Sejm) voted 238 to 204, with two abstentions, to support the new cabinet.
"You will be pleasantly surprised by how quickly Polish-Russian relations will improve," Donald Tusk told reporters.
He said it was too early to talk about a time frame for his visit to Moscow, but "that will happen very soon," he added.
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said he would meet with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in Brussels on December 6.
Tusk said earlier today that Polish-Russian relations could be improved within 24 hours.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20071124/89422919.html
Russia slams U.S. written proposals on missile shield, CFE
23/ 11/ 2007
MOSCOW, November 23 (RIA Novosti) - The United States has gone back on previous initiatives concerning its missile shield in Europe in a written proposal earlier received by Russia, a source in Russia's Foreign Ministry said Friday.
Russia's foreign and defense ministers held talks on October 12 with their U.S. counterparts in Moscow, at which the U.S. side made 'counter proposals' in a bid to allay Russia's concerns over Washington's missile shield plans in Europe, including inviting Russian experts to inspect mooted missile defense sites.
"This time [in written proposals], there is no mention of a joint assessment of threats, the presence of Russian experts at U.S. missile defense sites in Europe. The document does not confirm U.S. willingness not to activate the [missile] shield if there is no real threat," the source said.
The United States plans to deploy interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic. Moscow views the plans as a threat to its national security.
"Everything is so vague that it is hard to discern previous initiatives in the document," the source said.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20071123/89356224.html
Moscow, New Delhi set to develop a fifth-generation fighter
21/ 11/ 2007
MOSCOW. (Yury Zaitsev for RIA Novosti) - Although the Russian Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29 Fulcrum air-superiority fighter with a vectored-thrust engine is currently stealing the limelight at the Dubai Air Show 2007, this warplane will become obsolete in the foreseeable future.
Fifth-generation fighters featuring entirely new engineering solutions will form the mainstay of national air forces in the 21st century.
On November 15, Russia's Sukhoi Military Aviation Complex and the Indian Defense Ministry launched a new round of talks on developing a fifth-generation fighter.
On October 18, Russian President Vladimir Putin told a televised news conference that Moscow would start developing such warplanes by 2015. Before that, First Deputy Prime Minister and former Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said a prototype fifth-generation fighter would perform its maiden flight in 2009, and that serial production would commence in early 2010. But most experts were not so optimistic and predicted that the first warplane in this category would not appear before 2012-2014, which is supported by President Putin's statement.
However, the world's first fifth-generation fighter, the prototype US F-22 Raptor fighter, first took off on September 7, 1997. Two weeks later, Russia's Sukhoi Su-47 Berkut, another prototype fifth-generation fighter, flew for the first time.
http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20071121/88962354.html
Nuclear fuel will soon be supplied to Bushehr
23/ 11/ 2007
MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Pyotr Goncharov) - The recent report by Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mohamed ElBaradei is similar to the previous one but for a sensational detail.
It says that the IAEA is getting ready to verify and seal the nuclear fuel which will be supplied to the Bushehr nuclear power plant on November 26, 2007. This procedure will precede the delivery of fuel from Russia to Iran.
This suggests that the nuclear plant will be commissioned earlier than planned - at the end of next year. This is why the delivery of fuel is being rushed. Otherwise, why conduct the verification procedure and store sealed nuclear fuel? Its quality will deteriorate because of radioactivity. Moreover, the Tvel Corporation, a Russian manufacturer of fuel, is already sustaining losses because it had to suspend the first full load of fuel for the plant.
For these reasons, it seems logical that the plant will be commissioned earlier - say the operational commissioning will take place in the fall, and the physical one closer to summer. September 2008 was already mentioned as the date of the plant's physical commissioning.
This scenario is quite probable but...
Nuclear fuel is loaded into reactors six months before the physical commissioning. If the plant is commissioned in September, fuel should be loaded in March. It will be supplied in consignments over a period of a month and a half to two months.
http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20071123/89330317.html
Putin says Russia will not tolerate NATO military build up - 2
20/ 11/ 2007
(Adds Putin's comments, details in paras 4-6, 11-15)
MOSCOW, November 20 (RIA Novosti) - President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russia would not ignore NATO's military build up near its borders and would provide an adequate response to any "muscle-flexing."
"In violation of previous agreements, NATO members' military resources are being built up next to our borders," Putin said at a Defense Ministry meeting with senior military staff. "Certainly, we cannot allow ourselves to remain indifferent to this obvious muscle-flexing."
He said Russia had been forced to impose a moratorium on the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty as the majority of other signatories had failed to ratify an adapted version of the cold war-era agreement.
The modified version of the 1990 CFE treaty, which Western countries consider a cornerstone of European security, was signed on November 19, 1999 by all NATO countries except Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Slovenia.
Only Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan have ratified the adapted version of the document, while NATO countries have insisted on Russia's withdrawal from Moldova and Georgia as a condition for their ratification of the modified CFE Treaty.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20071120/88831563.html
Russian businessman keeps Euro 2008 Mercedes pledge to Croatia
22/ 11/ 2007
MOSCOW, November 22 (RIA Novosti) - A LUKoil vice-president announced on Thursday that he would keep his promise to give Mercedes cars to Croatian players after the Balkan side beat England 3-2 at Wembley.
Leonid Fedun, who is also the owner of Spartak Moscow, pledged to give a Mercedes to the four best Croatian players in the event of the side winning their Euro 2008 tie in London on Wednesday night.
The move came after Russia had lost 2-1 to Israel on Saturday, leaving the national side needing a win in Andorra coupled with an England defeat to progress to the final stage of the tournament, to be held in Austria and Switzerland next summer.
"I will fulfill my promise 100%," said Fedun, adding that it was up to the Croatians to decide which players received the cars.
"It would be logical to suppose that Pletikosa [who is also Spartak's goalkeeper] and the three players who scored will get them," the businessman added.
Russia beat Andorra 1-0 to book their place at Euro 2008.
http://en.rian.ru/sports/20071122/89120466.html
Dissenters clash with police in central Moscow
24/ 11/ 2007
MOSCOW, November 24 (RIA Novosti) - Protesters clashed with police during an authorized opposition rally in central Moscow on Saturday.
City authorities had given the go-ahead for a meeting, but turned down a request for a march.
After the rally, known as Dissenters' March, a group of about 20 people broke through police lines and walked into Moscow's major road, the Garden Ring.
Police detained several demonstrators.
City authorities said fewer than 1,000 people had turned up for the meeting, with about 300 reporters covering the event.
Earlier, Garry Kasparov, a leading figure in the opposition movement The Other Russia, said the Dissenters' March would be held in Moscow November 24 and in St. Petersburg November 25.
The Other Russia organization includes the People's Patriotic Union, led by former premier Mikhail Kasyanov, the banned National Bolshevik Party, headed by Russian writer Eduard Limonov, as well as chess grandmaster Kasparov's United Civil Front.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20071124/89417074.html
Pro-Kremlin party could secure about 60% of Dec. vote - survey
20/ 11/ 2007
MOSCOW, November 20 (RIA Novosti) - More than half of respondents in a recent opinion poll said they would vote for the Kremlin-backed United Russia party at next month's parliamentary elections.
The Public Opinion Foundation said 57% of those surveyed November 17-18 said they would back the ruling party. The Communists and Liberal Democrats are the only other parties likely to make it into parliament, with 8% each, according to the pollster.
A Just Russia, a new party seen as another Kremlin project to poach votes from leftist forces, was supported by 5% of respondents and is close to overcoming the 7% Duma threshold, the opinion center said.
Other parties, including the liberal Yabloko and Union of Right Forces (SPS) - champions of western-style capitalism and free market reforms in the 1990s under Boris Yeltsin - received 1% of respondents' support.
SPS has unsuccessfully sought via a court to have President Vladimir Putin, who tops United Russia's list of candidates, barred from running in the December elections. It accused the president of using administrative resources to promote the party.
Three thousand people took part in the survey conducted across Russia. Statistical error does not exceed 2.5%, the foundation said.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20071120/88832022.html
Opposition leaders detained at protest rally in Moscow
24/ 11/ 2007
MOSCOW, November 24 (RIA Novosti) - Russian opposition leaders Garry Kasparov and Eduard Limonov were detained after a protest meeting in central Moscow, city police said on Saturday.
"Kasparov and Limonov were detained for violating meeting procedure rules, and were taken to the Krasnoselsky Borough police station," a spokesman for the Moscow city Internal Affairs Main Administration said.
Police previously denied that they had been detained.
Protesters clashed with police during an authorized opposition rally in central Moscow earlier on Saturday.
City authorities had given the go-ahead for a meeting, but turned down a request for a march.
After the rally, known as Dissenters' March, a group of about 20 people broke through police lines and walked onto Moscow's major road, the Garden Ring.
Police detained several demonstrators.
City authorities said fewer than 1,000 people had turned up for the meeting, with about 300 reporters covering the event.
Earlier, Garry Kasparov, a leading figure in the opposition movement The Other Russia, said the Dissenters' March would be held in Moscow November 24 and in St. Petersburg November 25.
The Other Russia organization includes the People's Patriotic Union, led by former premier Mikhail Kasyanov, the banned National Bolshevik Party, headed by Russian writer Eduard Limonov, as well as chess grandmaster Kasparov's United Civil Front.
Human rights advocates in Russia and abroad have criticized the Kremlin for tightening its grip on democracy and human rights ever since Vladimir Putin became president in 2000.
However, polls show that the majority of Russians support the country's leader, citing the stability and economic growth Russia that has enjoyed under his rule.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20071124/89427826.html
Russian opposition candidate dies of his wounds
24/ 11/ 2007
MAKHACHKALA, November 24 (RIA Novosti) -- A parliamentary candidate has died after being shot and seriously wounded in an apparent assassination attempt in southern Russia, a local health official said on Saturday.
Farid Babayev, the leader of the liberal Yabloko party in the Republic of Daghestan, sustained four gunshot wounds, including one to the head, on Wednesday night.
"Babayev died of his wounds without regaining consciousness," he said.
Babayev was shot by unknown assailants at the entranceway of his apartment block in Makhachkala, the capital of the North Caucasus republic.
Yabloko is running in the December 2 election to the State Duma.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20071124/89399257.html
Poland to discuss missile shield with U.S. after consulting NATO
23/ 11/ 2007
WARSAW, November 23 (RIA Novosti) - Poland will be ready to resume dialogue with the United States on the missile defense issue after consultations with NATO and neighboring states, the prime minister said on Friday.
"We are aware of the political and military weight of the [U.S.] missile defense initiative," Donald Tusk said in a policy speech to parliament. "We will be ready to conduct further negotiations on the issue after a series of consultations with NATO and some of our neighbors."
The premier, addressing the legislature for the first time since his Civic Platform party's election victory, was not specific about which neighbors Poland wants to consult with, but Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said Thursday he was in favor of further consultations with Russia.
Tusk earlier said his government had "no rigid doctrine regarding the deployment of a U.S. missile defense base in the country," and that issue was "open for all arguments for and against."
The center-right politician, widely expected to pursue warmer ties with Russia and Germany than under his predecessor Jaroslaw Kaczynski, said the new government would want to be certain that Warsaw will not finance a project that is not in the national security interest.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20071123/89328897.html
A Myanmar suicide for the advocates of sanctions
22/ 11/ 2007
MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Dmitry Kosyrev) - As expected, the annual summit of the ten South East Asian nations, which form ASEAN, focused on undemocratic Myanmar.
If the latter did not exist, the summit would have habitually produced a package of documents on economic integration in this part of the world. The conflict among the ten over Myanmar shows that integration, free trade and the like are too closely connected with ideology and other political changes in any region of the world.
This is what has happened at the summit. The Philippines, which is the most peripheral and alien ASEAN member, has warned its partners that if all of them do not compel Myanmar to establish a more democratic regime, its senate may decide not to endorse the ASEAN Charter. The latter has been the key event of the Singapore summit from the very start. It will not become valid if it is not ratified by every single ASEAN member.
http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20071122/89181420.html
Georgia says Russia failed to fulfill military pullout obligation
23/ 11/ 2007
TBILISI, November 23 (RIA Novosti) - Georgia's Foreign Ministry said Friday that Russia had not fulfilled all its obligations under previous agreements on the complete withdrawal of its military bases from the country.
The Georgian ministry said Moscow had not yet closed its base in Gudauta, in the zone of a conflict between Georgia and its breakaway region of Abkhazia.
"Despite the June 2001 announcement of the closure of the base in Gudauta, it had not been closed and is still functioning. Its infrastructure is used in the interests of the Russian Armed Forces," the ministry said.
According to some sources, about 400 personnel are still stationed at Gudauta, along with some combat and transport helicopters, various military vehicles, a fuel storage area, and some other facilities.
Moscow has never allowed international inspections of the base and has provided no data on suspected stockpiles of arms and ammunition. The Russian military also maintains the Bombora airfield, which is part of the Gudauta base complex.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20071123/89328738.html
Evraz Group secures $3.2 bln loan
23/ 11/ 2007
MOSCOW, November 23 (RIA Novosti) - Evraz Group S.A. [LSE: EVR], Russia's largest steel and mining group, said on Friday that it had secured a $3.2 billion credit facility, which will be used to repay a bridging loan and for corporate purposes.
The company said in a news release the loan, with an interest rate of LIBOR+1.8%, would be received in two tranches consisting of a "$2.7 billion five-year tranche" and "a $500 million three-year unsecured tranche."
The loan is guaranteed by Mastercroft Ltd and underwritten by a group of 10 banks, including ABN Amro, Barclays Capital, ING, Tokyo-Mitsubishi among others.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20071123/89316532.html
Turkey's first cloned sheep born at Istanbul University
22/ 11/ 2007
ANKARA, November 22 (RIA Novosti) - Scientists at Istanbul University announced they had successfully completed Turkey's first cloning project, local media said on Thursday.
Turkey's experiments with cloning began in 2005 and 69 cloned embryos were transplanted to eight ewes, two of which got pregnant. The sheep, named Oyali, was delivered by caesarean section in the university's veterinary teaching hospital.
"The newborn is in good condition," the project's chief, Sema Bilker, said.
The world's first cloned mammal was Dolly, a sheep born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1996. In 2003 she was put to sleep because of a progressive lung disease.
http://en.rian.ru/science/20071122/89073344.html
UN study urges ban on human clone research
13/ 11/ 2007
UN, November 13 (RIA Novosti) - UN experts have called for a ban on research into human cloning, saying that otherwise governments will need to draw up measures to protect clones from "potential abuse, prejudice and discrimination".
In its report, the Japan-based United Nations University Institute for Advanced Studies said a human clone could be produced before the international community has made its choice between banning reproductive human cloning and allowing strictly controlled cloning research for therapeutic purposes, including donor organs.
Dr. Chamundeeswari Kuppuswamy, one of the four authors of the report, said the UN might otherwise have to adopt a convention on clone rights.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20071113/87857126.html
Turkey's losses reach $300 bln over Kurdish conflict
23/ 11/ 2007
ANKARA, November 23 (RIA Novosti) - Turkey has sustained about $300 billion in losses from the 24-year long confrontation with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a Turkish government spokesman said on Friday.
"The total losses since 1984 from the PKK terrorists in Turkey are around $300 billion. Had this country used those funds for other purposes, it would now rank as the world's seventh largest power," Cemil Cicek said.
He said the PPK, outlawed in Turkey and labeled by the U.S., NATO and the EU as a terrorist organization, cannot exist without outside support.
"The PKK is a tool and pawn of international terrorism," he said, adding that Ankara "has received no support from abroad" in its fight against the separatists.
He also said a possible cross-border operation against Kurdish militants based in the north of Iraq would be directed solely against the PKK.
In mid-October, Turkey's parliament sanctioned military cross-border operations against PKK separatists following an earlier government request and despite opposition from Washington and Baghdad.
Last week, national media quoted Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as saying that the Turkish Army would launch a cross-border operation against Kurdish militants in northern Iraq before poor weather sets in.
However, the president of Iraq said earlier that the crisis on the Iraqi-Turkish border "is effectively over."
In an interview with the Cairo-based Al-Ahram weekly newspaper, Jalal Talabani said that an Iraqi delegation at a recent conference in Istanbul had managed to convince the Turkish leadership that Baghdad was "fighting against the Kurdistan Workers Party" based in northern Iraq.
The PKK has been fighting for autonomy status in southeast Turkey for nearly 25 years. The conflict has so far claimed about 40,000 lives.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20071123/89324513.html
Turkmen gas price for Russia could jump 30% in 2008 - Gazprom
23/ 11/ 2007
ASHGABAT, November 23 (RIA Novosti) - Turkmenistan plans to raise its natural gas price for Russia by at least 30% to $130 per 1,000 cubic meters next year, the CEO of Russian energy giant Gazprom said on Friday.
Turkmenistan supplies about 50 billion cu m of gas annually to Russia at $100 per 1,000 cu m under a 2006-2009 deal signed by Gazprom and the Central Asian state's late leader Saparmurat Niyazov.
"We have not given a final answer to our Turkmen colleagues... Talks will resume next week," Alexei Miller said following talks in the Turkmen capital, adding the company needed time to assess the consequences of the move.
The price rise will affect Ukraine, which buys Turkmen gas from Russia. Talks on a price formula for gas supplies to Ukraine in 2008 are under way between Moscow and Kiev.
From early 2006 Ukraine paid an average of $95 per 1,000 cu m for a mixture of Turkmen and Russian gas supplied at the border. After the Central Asian state hiked its gas price, the rate for Ukraine was raised to $130 per 1,000 cu m from January 1, 2007.
http://en.rian.ru/business/20071123/89317254.html
Search continues for missing Russian divers in Egypt
23/ 11/ 2007
MOSCOW, November 23 (RIA Novosti) - A total of 11 vessels are involved in the search for three Russian divers, who went missing on Wednesday while diving at the Elphinstone Reef in Egypt's Red Sea, Russia's honorary consul in Egypt said Friday.
"Helicopters are also taking part in the search," he said, adding that the rescue operation is being hampered by poor weather - strong winds and waves.
Three divers from Barnaul in Southern Siberia - Vladimir Bukhmiller, Sergei Gurba and Natalia Doronina - planned to dive at the Elphinstone Reef and according to a fourth member of the group, planned to dive to a depth of 90 meters (295 feet). Diving deeper than 40 meters (131 feet) is not permitted in Egypt.
Irina Tyurina of the Russian Union of Travel Industry said the incident was rare, as the three Russians were highly skilled divers, who decided to set a record by diving to a depth of 90 meters using an ordinary air mixture.
http://en.rian.ru/onlinenews/20071123/89339216.html
Litvinenko remembered on anniversary of death - 2
23/ 11/ 2007
(Adds new information about the status of Marina Litvinenko's lawsuit in paras 13-16)
LONDON, November 23 (RIA Novosti) - Relatives and friends have paid tribute to Alexander Litvinenko, a former FSB officer and Kremlin critic, who died in London exactly a year ago.
Litvinenko died after being poisoned with the radioactive element polonium-210. In a letter reportedly penned by Litvinenko on his deathbed, the dying man accused President Vladimir Putin of orchestrating his murder. The Kremlin strongly denied the accusation.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20071123/89329638.html
Orthodox Church warns against force in Penza sect standoff
23/ 11/ 2007
MOSCOW, November 23 (RIA Novosti) - The Orthodox Church has spoken out against using force in a standoff with a religious sect, who have sealed themselves in a cave to await the end of the world, the Russian church's chief spokesman said Friday.
The sect, which calls itself The True Russian Orthodox Church, was formed by one Father Pyotr, a 43-year-old diagnosed schizophrenic currently in custody. He is believed to have ordered his followers underground last week. The group of 28 adults and four children are threatening to set themselves on fire if police try to force them out.
"Persuasion and negotiations should be used, as people there [in the cave] are brainwashed and difficult to reason with," Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad said. "A violent solution should be avoided at all costs, it is very dangerous."
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20071123/89354573.html
Palestine, a suitcase without the handle
22/ 11/ 2007
MOSCOW. (Yevgeny Satanovsky for RIA Novosti) - Diplomats, policymakers, journalists and experts are all discussing the upcoming conference on the Middle East in Annapolis as if something depends on it.
Almost sixty years have passed since the world community started tackling the Palestinian problem, but it is further away from its resolution than ever before.
There is no other issue that attracts so much attention from politicians, diplomats, religious and public figures, and the media. Refugees from Palestine have received more money over the decades than any others. The Palestinians do not have a state, but this is not because they have been ignored. Quite the contrary, so many people have attended to this problem and so intensively that moving toward the goal has become more important than the result. There is no Palestinian state primarily because Yasser Arafat preferred to remain a revolutionary leader rather than the president of a small and poor country. None of his successors has a fraction of his power and the times have irreversibly changed.
The roadmap, which the conference is supposed to revive, has never had a chance to succeed, nor can it now be implemented. What success can one speak about at the peak of the civil war in Palestine, after HAMAS severed its agreement with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, an agreement, which was concluded on the Koran in the shade of the Kaaba? Only al-Qaeda and Iran can exert influence on the Palestinian radicals.
http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20071122/89055871.html
Arab countries to attend Mideast peace conference
23/ 11/ 2007
CAIRO, November 23 (RIA Novosti) - Arab countries have agreed to participate in a Middle East peace forum in the United States, foreign ministers of the Arab League said on Friday.
The conference, to be held in Annapolis, U.S., on November 27, will seek to make progress on the issue of Palestinian statehood.
"The Arab peace follow up group has decided to accept the invitation to attend the Annapolis Middle East peace conference at a ministerial level to discuss the peace process," Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said, adding that the Arab countries would be represented by their foreign ministers.
Arab countries urged the U.S. to include the issue of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on its agenda.
The leaders of Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian National Authority, who met on Thursday to coordinate positions for the U.S.-sponsored conference, said they were optimistic.
President Hosni Mubarak held separate meetings with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and King Abdullah II of Jordan in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas earlier urged the Arab countries "not to miss a historic chance and attend the forum."
Arab leaders previously expressed doubts over the conference, demanding a more specific agenda and questioning whether it will be effective given the current outbreak of violence in the region.
The Palestinians want a detailed agreement specifying each party's commitment concerning key points, such as future borders, the status of Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees, and Israeli settlements. Israel is looking for a more general guideline.
Israel has sought to retain control over East Jerusalem and key settlements in the West Bank as part of an eventual agreement.
Israel's prime minister, Ehud Olmert, said on Tuesday following a meeting with the Egyptian president that he expected a final peace deal to be signed with the Palestinians in 2008 shortly after the conference in the U.S.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20071123/89343091.html
continued….
Black Sea Environmental Disaster - When the Black Sea turned Black.
A severe storm broke a small Russian oil tanker in two off the Ukrainian port of Kerch on Sunday, spilling up to 2,000 tons of fuel oil in what a Russian official said was an "environmental disaster." A bird stained with fuel oil sits on the shore near Russia's southern port of Kavkaz. (Alexander Natruskin/Reuters)
An oil spill is seen at the Black Sea shore in Port Kavkaz. The bodies of three sailors washed ashore after a ferocious Black Sea storm sank five ships, including an oil tanker, raising fears of severe environmental damage to the virtually landlocked sea.(ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP/Getty Images)
A bird covered in fuel oil sits on the shore 4.3 miles from Russia's southern port of Kavkaz. (Pavel Shevtsov/Reuters)
Six of the world's bear species under threat of extinction
13/ 11/ 2007
MOSCOW, November 13 (RIA Novosti) - According to an assessment by the World Conservation Union (IUCN), the largest international conservation network, six of the world's eight species of bear are threatened with extinction.
Despite conservation efforts by Chinese authorities, the giant panda with a wild population of less than 2,500 mature animals, remains the only species considered as having "Endangered" status, implying "a very high risk of extinction in the wild."
This year, sun bears, the world's smallest species of bear, were given a "Vulnerable" status, which means a high risk of extinction.
"We estimate that sun bears have declined by at least 30% over the past 30 years (three bear generations), and continue to decline at this rate," said Rob Steinmetz, co-chair of the IUCN Bear Specialist Group's sun bear expert team, adding that still little is known about the biology and ecology of this species.
The two major threats to sun bears are the loss of their habitat and poaching. The animals are killed mainly for their gall bladders, used in Chinese medicine, and their paws - a delicacy in many Asian countries. In addition, they are often killed out of fear they will attack people or destroy crops.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20071113/87863125.html
Environmental monitoring with Smotr
22/ 11/ 2007
MOSCOW. (Yury Zaitsev for RIA Novosti) - In mid-November the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Space Research held a meeting on the remote observation of the Earth.
Satellite information and space-based monitoring play an increasing role in the Russian economy. Studying the Earth from space can help scientists to understand how global ecosystems and the climate interact. This could make it easier to predict man-made and natural emergencies, such as the recent events in the Kerch Strait.
The Federal Space Research Program for 2006-2015 says that in order to deal with such emergencies it will be necessary to monitor 20-30 million square kilometers - the area covered by Russia and its key zones of economic interest - by 2010.
According to the program, some regions will need to be monitored at intervals of one to three hours at a resolution of 1-5 meters. By 2015, the total area to be monitored must be increased to 50-70 million square kilometers.
The financial problems that plagued Russia's space effort in the 1990s denied the country's scientists the possibility of obtaining remote sensing information from their own satellites.
Today the situation is changing.
http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20071122/89093443.html
Oil spill to be cleared from Kerch Strait coastline in 4 days
23/ 11/ 2007
MOSCOW, November 23 (RIA Novosti) - The operation to clear up the oil spill from the coastline of the Kerch Strait between the Black and Azov seas will be completed in four days, the Russian transportation ministry said on Friday.
A tanker split open spilling some 2,000 metric tons of fuel oil into the Kerch Strait and four freighters sank in a storm on November 11.
The ministry said more than 1,000 people were involved in the disaster relief operation, and that the tanker would be raised from the sea by November 26.
An interdepartmental committee for the emergency relief operation held a second meeting on Friday, the ministry said.
Timur Khikmatov, the ministry spokesman, said the pontoons necessary to raise the vessel had arrived and were being prepared for work. He also said water was being pumped out of the tanker's bow.
"The bow is being raised and this will allow us to put pontoons beneath it," Khikmatov said adding the tanker lift was scheduled for November 24.
The transportation ministry said in a press release that the Russian state maritime rescue service and the Russian Navy were responsible for coordinating the raising of the Volgoneft-139.
A deadline of November 26 has been set as according to weather forecasts the current calm weather is expected to change November 27.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20071123/89312209.html
Black Sea oil spill
http://en.rian.ru/trend/oilspill/
Bird deaths from Black Sea oil spill increasing
21/ 11/ 2007
MOSCOW, November 21 (RIA Novosti) - The number of birds killed by the oil spill in the Kerch Strait will keep growing, a member of the WWF volunteer group said Wednesday.
At least 2,000 metric tons of fuel spilled into the Kerch Strait when a tanker split open and four freighters sank in a storm on November 11 killing thousands of bids, including many endangered species.
"Birds stained with fuel oil have virtually no chance of survival if no one helps them," Valentin Kozlitin, the chief veterinary doctor at the Moscow zoo, told RIA Novosti following his return from the disaster area.
Earlier reports said some 30,000 birds had died as a result of the oil slick but Kozlitin warned the number of dying birds will increase as their migration routes cross the disaster area.
He said there is still a chance to help the birds arriving at the oil slick site.
"The authorities are taking no steps to rescue the birds and, on the contrary, are restricting and hampering the work of a few volunteers," Kozlitin added.
He said birds are dying of dehydration, hypothermia and starvation.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20071121/88972641.html
Fishing, hunting losses from Black Sea oil spill over $160 mln
19/ 11/ 2007
MOSCOW, November 19 (RIA Novosti) - Fishing and hunting losses from a fuel oil spill in a strait between the Black and Azov seas are estimated at over $160 million, the Russian agricultural watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor said on Monday.
At least 2,000 metric tons of fuel spilled into the Kerch Strait when a tanker split open and four freighters sank in a storm on November 11. At least six sailors died, and the bodies of five more have yet to be found.
"Preliminary damage to fish stock amounts to 3.96 billion rubles [some $162 million]," the agency said in a statement, adding that hunting losses would amount to 6.084 million rubles (about $250,000).
Earlier reports said some 30,000 birds had died as a result of the fuel oil slick. Tests of water samples showed that contamination by oil products was 2.5 milligrams per liter, some 50 times above acceptable levels.
Alexander Davydenko, the head of the Federal Agency for Sea and Inland Water Transportation, said on Monday that a temporary sailing ban had been introduced on vessels more than 25 years old.
He said the measure had been introduced due to the incident in the Kerch Strait, and that all vessels would be now inspected to find out if they met safety standards.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20071119/88716301.html
continued...
The Government is Corrupt. They have no respect.
Ty Ziegel, a Marine, was badly wounded in Iraq. He battled the VA over disability benefits when he returned.
Michael Moore Today
http://www.michaelmoore.com/
U.S. troops are served "duck and cover"
November 22nd, 2007 12:02 pm
Green Zone attacked as troops celebrate holiday
Associated Press
BAGHDAD — A series of mortars struck the U.S.-protected Green Zone on Thursday, Iraqi police said, in an apparent attack coinciding with the American celebration of Thanksgiving.
A huge plume of black smoke drifted into the sky from the area as the sun was setting just before 5 p.m., and the U.S. government public address system in the Green Zone could be heard warning people to “duck and cover” and to stay away from windows.
An Iraqi police officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to release the information, said the blasts were caused by mortars that landed in the Green Zone, but no casualties or damage were reported. U.S. military and embassy officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The heavily fortified area, which houses the U.S. Embassy and thousands of American troops and contractors, along with the Iraqi government’s headquarters, has frequently been hit by rockets or mortars. But the attacks have tapered off amid a lull of violence in the capital and surrounding areas.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10527
"They couldn't find any brain activity."
November 22nd, 2007 12:34 pm
After explosion, soldier just thankful to be alive
By Bill Hess / Sierra Vista Herald
SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Today is a time to reflect and give thanks.
While many people are thankful for their families, their jobs or that their favorite sport team is having a winning season, the blessing Sgt. 1st Class Todd Nelson and his wife Sarah have is that he’s alive.
When the soldier arrived at the Brooke Army Medical Center, the doctors didn’t hold out much hope the soldier formerly assigned to Fort Huachuca would survive his wounds from a vehicle bomb in Afghanistan.
“They couldn’t find any brain activity,” Todd said last week during a telephone interview with the Herald/Review from his Fisher House apartment at the San Antonio Army medical facility.
Without any indication of brain activity, which the soldier now believes was because of the metal supports in his head, the medical staff started preparations for harvesting good organs and other body items for transplants.
The physicians also were concerned that “my brain lacked oxygen for three days,” from the time of the wounding to when he arrived in Texas, Todd said.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10529
H.R.676
Title: To provide for comprehensive health insurance coverage for all United States residents, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep Conyers, John, Jr. [MI-14] (introduced 1/24/2007) Cosponsors (86)
Latest Major Action: 2/2/2007 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:HR00676:@@@N
Make Sure Your Rep. Supports H.R. 676
"Which congressional district am I in?"
CLiCK here and enter your address to find out.
If there is already a green check (check) next to your Representative's name, don't hesitate to thank them.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/sicko/what-can-i-do/boxscore/index.php?action=print
Thank you !
Information on
Representative Michael Capuano
of Congressional District number 8 of Massachusetts
Extended Contact Information
Political Profile
DC Address:
The Honorable Michael Capuano
United States House of Representatives
1530 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-2108
DC Phone:
202-225-5111
DC Fax:
202-225-9322
Email Address:
http://www.house.gov/capuano/contact/email.shtml
WWW Homepage:
http://www.house.gov/capuano/
District Offices:
Roxbury Community College, Campus Library
1234 Columbus Avenue
Roxbury, MA 02120-3400
Voice: 617-621-6208
FAX: 617-621-8628
to Roxbury office from Google Maps
110 First Street
Cambridge, MA 02141
Voice: 617-621-6208
FAX: 617-621-8628
to Cambridge office from Google Maps
Party:
Democrat
Leadership:
None
Freshman:
No
First Elected To Office:
November 3, 1998
Year of Next Election:
November 4, 2008
Previous Political Work:
Mayor, Somerville
Somerville Alderman
http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/cgi-bin/newmemberbio.cgi?lang=&member=MA08&site=ctc&address=&city=&state=MA&zipcode=&plusfour=
"I'm ready to beat down the White House door if I need to." -- Marine sergeant Ty Ziegel
November 21st, 2007 6:42 pm
Wounded warriors face home-front battle with VA
WASHINGTON, Illinois -- Ty Ziegel peers from beneath his Marine Corps baseball cap, his once boyish face burned beyond recognition by a suicide bomber's attack in Iraq just three days before Christmas 2004.
He lost part of his skull in the blast and part of his brain was damaged. Half of his left arm was amputated and some of the fingers were blown off his right hand.
Ziegel, a 25-year-old Marine sergeant, knew the dangers of war when he was deployed for his second tour in Iraq.
But he didn't expect a new battle when he returned home as a wounded warrior: a fight with the Department of Veterans Affairs.
"Sometimes, you get lost in the system," he told CNN. "I feel like a Social Security number. I don't feel like Tyler Ziegel."
His story is one example of how medical advances in the battlefield have outpaced the home front. Many wounded veterans return home feeling that the VA system, specifically its 62-year-old disability ratings system, has failed them.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10524
November 14th, 2007 - Sicko House Parties
http://democracyforamerica.com/sicko
November 16th, 2007 2:35 am
Anti-Bush Sign Has Bridge World in an Uproar
By Stephanie Strom / New York Times
In the genteel world of bridge, disputes are usually handled quietly and rarely involve issues of national policy. But in a fight reminiscent of the brouhaha over an anti-Bush statement by Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks in 2003, a team of women who represented the United States at the world bridge championships in Shanghai last month is facing sanctions, including a yearlong ban from competition, for a spur-of-the-moment protest.
At issue is a crudely lettered sign, scribbled on the back of a menu, that was held up at an awards dinner and read, “We did not vote for Bush.”
By e-mail, angry bridge players have accused the women of “treason” and “sedition.”
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10522
November 21st, 2007 1:26 am
Former aide blames Bush for leak deceit
By Matt Apuzzo / Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Former White House press secretary Scott McClellan blames President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for efforts to mislead the public about the role of White House aides in leaking the identity of a CIA operative.
In an excerpt from his forthcoming book, McClellan recounts the 2003 news conference in which he told reporters that aides Karl Rove and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby were "not involved" in the leak involving operative Valerie Plame.
"There was one problem. It was not true," McClellan writes, according to a brief excerpt released Tuesday. "I had unknowingly passed along false information. And five of the highest-ranking officials in the administration were involved in my doing so: Rove, Libby, the vice president, the president's chief of staff and the president himself."
Bush's chief of staff at the time was Andrew Card.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10523
November 21st, 2007 7:24 pm
Group urges Cramer to sponsor health bill
Demonstrators push for national insurance act
By Steve Doyle / Huntsville Times
HUNTSVILLE, AL -- Sign-waving demonstrators who want Congress to pass a universal health insurance bill rallied Tuesday outside U.S. Rep. Bud Cramer's Huntsville office.
Reese Danley-Kilgo, one of the organizers, said the group is asking Cramer, a Democrat, to co-sponsor the "United States National Health Insurance Act." It would create a publicly financed, privately delivered health care system to cover necessary medical care for every American, without co-payments or deductibles.
"It would leave out insurance companies and pharmaceutical corporations and just be an arrangement between the people who need health care and all the rest of us in the country," said Danley-Kilgo, a retired University of Alabama in Huntsville professor.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10525
November 22nd, 2007 11:34 am
Gonzales' UF talk stirs arrests, no Taser
GAINESVILLE -- (AP) -- Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales endured screams of ''criminal'' and ''liar'' during a speech at the University of Florida on Monday evening.
About 730 students and community members heard Gonzales defend his career as White House counsel and head of the Justice Department and give his views on immigration and the fight against terrorism.
''No one is perfect. What is important is that we identify our mistakes and correct them,'' he said.
Gonzales' appearance was the first at the university by a high-profiled individual since a UF student was Tasered on Sept. 17 at a speech by Sen. John Kerry. After an investigation, the University of Florida police were found to have acted appropriately and the charges were dropped against the student.
Early in Gonzales' speech, two people wearing hoods climbed on the stage and were quickly led off by police without incident. Gonzales stopped talking for a few minutes as the people were led away, which was followed by several outbursts from the crowd.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10526
Vote People Choice Awards
http://www.pcavote.com/pca/showvoting.jsp?showCaptcha=true&category=movies&_requestid=2728427
Fahrenheit 9/11 Wins the People's Choice Best Movie Award
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f09vovPKv8
SiCKO-Cure National Road Show
http://www.healthcare-now.org/healthcare_road_show.html
GO SEE SiCKO by MC ARTIFICIAL -- ABBREVIATED VERSION
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZSPSRcX3Qw
Tuesday, April 4th, 2006
Be It Resolved: You Can Impeach the President
Official State Impeachment Text
Impeachment Text for Cities & Towns
Impeachment Text for County Democratic Committees
Impeachment Text for State Assemblies and/or Legislatures
Jefferson's Manual, Section LIII, 603
You Can Impeach the President
http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=622
Find Your Congressional District Impeachment Committee
http://www.democrats.com/cdic-find
There is only ten reasons?
Ten Reasons to Impeach George Bush and Dick Cheney
I ask Congress to impeach President Bush and Vice President Cheney for the following reasons:
1. Violating the United Nations Charter by launching an illegal "War of Aggression" against Iraq without cause, using fraud to sell the war to Congress and the public, misusing government funds to begin bombing without Congressional authorization, and subjecting our military personnel to unnecessary harm, debilitating injuries, and deaths.
2. Violating U.S. and international law by authorizing the torture of thousands of captives, resulting in dozens of deaths, and keeping prisoners hidden from the International Committee of the Red Cross.
3. Violating the Constitution by arbitrarily detaining Americans, legal residents, and non-Americans, without due process, without charge, and without access to counsel.
4. Violating the Geneva Conventions by targeting civilians, journalists, hospitals, and ambulances, and using illegal weapons, including white phosphorous, depleted uranium, and a new type of napalm.
5. Violating U.S. law and the Constitution through widespread wiretapping of the phone calls and emails of Americans without a warrant.
6. Violating the Constitution by using "signing statements" to defy hundreds of laws passed by Congress.
7. Violating U.S. and state law by obstructing honest elections in 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006.
8. Violating U.S. law by using paid propaganda and disinformation, selectively and misleadingly leaking classified information, and exposing the identity of a covert CIA operative working on sensitive WMD proliferation for political retribution.
9. Subverting the Constitution and abusing Presidential power by asserting a "Unitary Executive Theory" giving unlimited powers to the President, by obstructing efforts by Congress and the Courts to review and restrict Presidential actions, and by promoting and signing legislation negating the Bill of Rights and the Writ of Habeas Corpus.
10. Gross negligence in failing to assist New Orleans residents after Hurricane Katrina, in ignoring urgent warnings of an Al Qaeda attack prior to Sept. 11, 2001, and in increasing air pollution causing global warming.
If you feel George W. Bush should be impeached, paint a sign that says "Impeach." and post it in a public place.
http://www.freewayblogger.com/impeachment_project2.htm
Thursday, July 26th, 2007
See the Movie, Start the Revolution ...a letter from Michael Moore
Friends,
I am overwhelmed by the response to "Sicko." And I'm not just talking about all the wonderful, heart-felt letters you've sent me and the stories you've shared with me about the abuse you've suffered from our health care system.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?id=219
continued...
Japan defends whale hunt - What's to defend? They are an endangered species from the folks that brought the world Kyoto ?
A file photograph released by Greenpeace, shows the Nisshin Maru, a factory ship in a Japanese whaling fleet, injuring a whale with it's first harpoon attempt.
The government cites tradition, but rejects similar arguments from its Ainu people, who want to fish for wild salmon.
By Bruce Wallace, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
By Bruce Wallace, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
November 24, 2007
TOKYO -- The pro-whalers in the Japanese government have a ready answer when asked to explain why the global ban on commercial whaling should be lifted.
TOKYO -- The pro-whalers in the Japanese government have a ready answer when asked to explain why the global ban on commercial whaling should be lifted.
Whaling is part of Japan's culture, they say. They point to archaeological evidence that whale meat has been a Japanese staple for more than 2,500 years. Respect for the "brave fish" courses through Japanese literature and paintings, they say, and has inspired folk festivals and puppet shows. Whales are so revered that the souls of the hunted and killed are commemorated in the Buddhist temples of Japan's hunting ports.
Yet despite contending that tradition justifies the whale hunt, the Japanese government balks at accepting similar arguments from the Ainu people on the northern island of Hokkaido who want to fish for wild salmon. The Japanese government has long prevented the indigenous Ainu people from exercising their traditional hunting and fishing rights, including the right to catch salmon as they return to Hokkaido's rivers to spawn.
Salmon have always been a food staple for the Ainu, such a fundamental element of their culture that they annually perform ceremonies to give thanks for the fish. Only in recent years has the government bent to Ainu lobbying and agreed to permit a small salmon haul that allows a few fish to be caught for ceremonial purposes....
L A Times
Malibu fire closes roads
By Stephanie Chavez, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
11:10 AM PST, November 24, 2007
Numerous roads in and around Malibu have been closed today because of the brush fire. Among them:
-- Pacific Coast Highway from Corral Canyon to Kanan Dume Road.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-fireroad25,0,3472238.story?coll=la-home-center
Rialto declares a water emergency
The city hopes to get state funding to help clean up and halt chemical contamination of its drinking water supply.
By Susannah Rosenblatt, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
November 24, 2007
Rialto city officials have declared a state of emergency, citing concerns about a shrinking water supply in danger of further contamination by dangerous chemicals.
The City Council voted on the declaration Tuesday in an attempt to secure state funding to halt the spread of industrial perchlorate in city groundwater. The growing, six-mile-long chemical plume in the north end of the San Bernardino County city contaminates 360 million gallons of groundwater each month.
"It's time now that somebody heard us and helped us," said Mayor Grace Vargas. "We need to protect our citizens."
The declaration criticizes state and local regulatory agencies for failing to aggressively enforce cleanup efforts, and warns that Rialto would be "extremely vulnerable" in the event of a "catastrophic interruption" of its clean water supply.
Although the city says its safeguards prevent residents from drinking polluted water, the plume grows about 20 inches a day and poses a growing threat to nearby communities such as Colton, officials said.
The wet winter of several years ago caused the levels of perchlorate in water samples to spike, said Rialto Mayor Pro Tem Winnie Hanson. About half a dozen wells are affected by contamination, said Councilman Ed Scott.
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-me-rialto24nov24,1,2424017.story?coll=la-news-environment&ctrack=4&cset=true
Of 5 sea gulls found shot, only 1 survives
The birds, all with wing injuries from an unknown attacker, were retrieved in the South Bay and taken to a San Pedro rescue center.
By Deborah Schoch, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
November 22, 2007
A wounded sea gull clung to life Wednesday at a San Pedro bird rescue center, the sole survivor among five gulls found last week in Manhattan Beach after being shot by an unknown assailant.
The bird suffered a broken bone in one wing, where X-rays found two pellets, apparently from a shotgun or BB gun, said Cyndie Kam of the International Bird Rescue and Research Center, where the bird is being treated.
The five, all with wing injuries, were brought to the center between Nov. 13 and Nov. 15. All were found in a four-mile area along Santa Monica Bay. Four were so severely injured that they were euthanized.
"They all arrived alive, but several of them had shattered wings, and if they're too far gone, we have to euthanize them," Kam said.
This is a busy time at the rescue center, which is also nursing 40 shorebirds injured by an unknown substance in the waters off Santa Cruz.
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-me-gulls22nov22,1,393532.story?coll=la-news-environment&ctrack=6&cset=true
Winners and losers
Fortunes shift as oil prices soar
Millionaires are created in Moscow but French fishermen riot over lost profit as effects ripple around the globe.
By Times Staff Writers
November 24, 2007
Oil makes the world go 'round. Each day, more than 85 million barrels of black gold are pumped from the ground -- that's nearly 70 ounces for each of the 6.6 billion men, women and children on Earth.
Since January, the price of a barrel of oil has almost doubled and is now approaching $100. Blame tensions in the Middle East, speculators on a quest for profit and the hunger for energy of rising powers, including India and China.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-oilworld24nov24,0,6484649.story?coll=la-home-center
L.A. mayor, reporter end their affair, sources say
By David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
11:08 PM PST, November 23, 2007
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and television news reporter Mirthala Salinas have ended their romantic relationship, two sources familiar with the situation said Friday.
Months after revelations about the affair damaged the mayor's political standing and devastated Salinas' broadcasting career, the two sources said the relationship disintegrated weeks ago.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-mayor24nov24,0,7160693.story?coll=la-home-center
Pet store a crime scene again
A second break-in in two weeks is reported at a La Mirada shop. This time, 10 pedigreed puppies worth about $15,000 are gone.
By Ari B. Bloomekatz, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
November 24, 2007
The puppies in the window looked secure enough. The pricey pooches were protected by metal bars, two locked doors, alarm sensors and video surveillance cameras.
But for the second time in about two weeks, a pet dealer reported that a thief had squeezed into his Puppy Love pet store in La Mirada early Friday morning and snatched nearly a dozen Yorkshire terriers, Schnauzers and other dogs worth an estimated $15,000.
"I'm really mad this time," said Paul Ro, who owns the shop with his wife, Tina. "It's that time of the year, the holidays, and people need money. But stealing puppies is cruel. They might get sick."
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-dogs24nov24,0,4349480.story?coll=la-home-center
Some serious giving
November 25, 2007
LAST week, celebrity activism seemed to have hit an all-time, "Saturday Night Live"-parody low when a news story broke that Paris Hilton had taken on the plight of binge-drinking elephants in India. "The elephants get drunk all the time. It is just so sad," she was quoted as saying to reporters in Tokyo.
Turned out the story was a prank. Still, it fooled plenty of people -- including the Associated Press -- because it actually seemed plausible. Who couldn't imagine the blond heiress pouting from atop a tipsy pachyderm? Not so long ago Hilton, fresh out of jail, was planning a much-ballyhooed trip to Rwanda.
http://www.latimes.com/features/lifestyle/la-ig-philanthropy25nov25,0,562612.story?coll=la-home-middleright
Hard choices on healthcare
By Susan Brink, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
November 26, 2007
AMERICAN dream scene: a gorgeous Southern California day. A car-free cul-de-sac on a hilltop overlooking a canyon. A boy and his father, shooting hoops.
But stark reality intruded for a brief moment last summer when 40-year-old Wes Wirkkala tripped, stumbled and almost fell. "Dad, what are you doing? Be careful!" his son Nicholas shouted. "We don't have health insurance."
At 8, Nicholas knows his family cannot risk any visits to the emergency room. He's been told a hundred times, as he dashes out the door with his skateboard, to be careful, to fall on his butt if he has to fall at all because there's no money for broken arms.
Wes Wirkkala, father of three, heard his son's words in front of their Dana Point home and felt shot through with shame. He didn't want this particular family deficiency broadcast through the neighborhood. "It was embarrassing," Wes says. "It kind of makes me feel that I'm not providing everything I should be."
The Wirkkalas, with an income that for five years has hovered around $70,000 and a home they bought in 2004 for $535,000, are a family many would call middle class. But they have been priced out of the private health insurance market, and their circumstances illustrate the core of a political battle over how much a family can earn for their children to qualify for a federal-state partnership called the State Children's Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP. If the outcome of Washington politics goes one way, the children could remain uninsured. If it goes the other way, the children might get health insurance.
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-uninsuredkids26nov26,0,5204194.story?coll=la-home-middleright
Show runners play key role in strike
By Maria Elena Fernandez and Meg James, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
November 24, 2007
Neal Baer hasn't written a word since the Writers Guild of America went on strike against the major studios three weeks ago. But the executive producer of NBC's "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" took a red-eye flight from Los Angeles to New York last week to meet with about 150 people on the show who could be out of jobs once scripts run out next month.
"I felt I owed it to my crew," Baer said. "I wanted to tell them how deeply sorry I was. They face the calamity of being laid off. But the writers had to fight for what was right."
Since the strike began Nov. 5, the elite group of TV show runners -- writers, including Baer, who also manage prime-time productions -- have felt torn by their dual loyalties to the guild and to their programs.
The majority agreed to stop work completely, hoping that by shutting down production of popular shows, studios would become crippled and would capitulate, thus bringing the strike to a quick end. Baer and other show runners vowed not to fulfill their producing obligations until serious negotiations resumed.
But a contingent of more than two dozen have quietly returned to work, editing episodes written before the strike began, according to talent agents and writers.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-showrunners24nov24,0,2874574.story?coll=la-home-business
Brad Pitt quits movie, Russell Crowe may step in
November 23, 2007
Brad Pitt... withdrew from movie State of Play over script concerns.
Photo: Reuters
Your browser does not support iframes. To visit the page follow this link
Brad Pitt has pulled out of Universal's political thriller State of Play because of script concerns. The move comes after a couple of weeks of meetings between Pitt and director Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland) in an attempt to iron out the concerns.
The script cannot be worked on because of the Hollywood screenwriters' strike.
Universal is on the fast track to replace the star. Sources said the studio is looking at Johnny Depp, whose movie Shantaram just got postponed at Warner Bros., as well as Russell Crowe.
Pitt was set to star with Edward Norton, Helen Mirren, Rachel McAdams, Jason Bateman and Robin Wright Penn in the Matthew Michael Carnahan-scripted adaptation of the British miniseries. He was playing a political consultant-turned-journalist who heads a newspaper's murder investigation involving a fast-rising politician (Norton).
Sources said the studio is mulling its legal options and might sue the actor.
Universal confirmed Pitt's departure in a statement: "Brad Pitt has left the Universal Pictures production of State of Play. We remain committed to this project and to the filmmakers, cast members, crew and others who are also involved in making the movie. We reserve all rights in this matter."
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
http://www.smh.com.au/news/film/pitt-quits-flick-russ-may-step-in/2007/11/23/1195753261122.html
Guidelines to humanize immigration raids
By Teresa Watanabe, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
November 24, 2007
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has formally adopted federal guidelines aimed at softening treatment of illegal immigrants arrested in work-site raids who are pregnant, nursing infants or serving as sole caregivers to children or seriously ill relatives.
The federal guidelines, publicly released last week, say that agents should develop a comprehensive plan to identify such people in raids targeting more than 150 people and work with social service agencies to assess humanitarian needs when deciding whether to detain them while processing their deportation cases.
The agency developed the guidelines with Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and plans to issue them to all enforcement offices, said agency spokeswoman Virginia Kice.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-immig24nov24,0,3495257.story?coll=la-home-local>
The iPod lecture circuit
November 24, 2007
BERKELEY -- Baxter Wood is one of Hubert Dreyfus' most devoted students. During lectures on existentialism, Wood hangs on every word, savoring the moments when the 78-year-old philosophy professor pauses to consider a student's comment or relay how a meaning-of-life question had him up at 2 a.m.
But Wood is not sitting in a lecture hall on the UC Berkeley campus, nor has he met Dreyfus. He is in the cab of his 18-wheel big rig, hauling dog food from Ohio to the West Coast or flat-screen TVs from Los Angeles to points east.The 61-year-old trucker from El Paso eavesdrops on the lectures by downloading them for free from Apple Inc.'s iTunes store, transferring them to his Hewlett-Packard digital media player, then piping them through his cabin's speakers. He hits pause as he approaches cities so he can focus more on traffic than on what Nietzsche meant when he said God was dead, then shifts his attention back to the classroom.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-podclass24nov24,0,5117576.story?coll=la-home-business
Former press secretary blames Bush, Cheney for misstatement about leak
Ex-White House press secretary writes in his new book that top administration officials let him unknowingly pass on false information.
From the Associated Press
6:36 AM PST, November 21, 2007
WASHINGTON -- Former White House press secretary Scott McClellan blames President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for efforts to mislead the public about the role of White House aides in leaking the identity of a CIA operative.
In an excerpt from his forthcoming book, McClellan recounts the 2003 news conference in which he told reporters that aides Karl Rove and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby were "not involved" in the leak involving operative Valerie Plame.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-leak22nov22,0,4321094.story?coll=la-home-nation
Herbert Saffir, 90; created the hurricane scale
The engineer developed the five-category system that describes the strength of a storm and alerts residents of the approaching danger.
From Times Wire Reports
November 24, 2007
Herbert Saffir, an engineer who created the five-category system used to describe hurricane strength and warn millions about an approaching storm's danger, has died. He was 90.
Saffir died Wednesday at South Miami Hospital of complications from surgery, his son, Richard, told the Miami Herald.
A structural engineer, Saffir created his scale in 1969 -- laying out for the first time what kind of damage could be expected from an approaching hurricane. It has since become the definitive way to describe intensity for storms that form in the Atlantic and parts of the Pacific. Before the scale, hurricanes simply were described as major or minor.
Saffir's innovation was ranking storm destruction by type, from Category 1 (where primarily trees and unanchored mobile homes were damaged) to Category 5 (the complete failure of roofs and some structures). The five descriptions of destruction then were matched with the sustained wind speeds that would produce the corresponding damage.
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-saffir24nov24,0,7986372.story?coll=la-home-obituaries
Political Crisis Deepens in Lebanon
By ZEINA KARAM, Associated Press Writer
11:40 AM PST, November 24, 2007
BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Lebanon awoke a republic without a president Saturday amid mounting worries over a power vacuum that has intensified the nation's yearlong political turmoil.
The capital was calm and shops opened for business as usual the morning after a tumultuous day that saw President Emile Lahoud depart without a successor after announcing he was handing over security powers to the army.
Lahoud's final announcement saying the country is in a "state of emergency" was rejected by the rival, pro-Western Cabinet of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora.
The government rejection created fresh confusion in an already unsettled situation, which many Lebanese fear could explode into violence between supporters of Saniora's government and the pro-Syria opposition led by the Shiite militant group Hezbollah.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wire/ats-ap_top11nov24,0,2213622.story?coll=la-ap-topnews-headlines
continued...
Fire destroys 35 structures in Malibu; now 25% contained - Did someone say drought ?
November 24, 2007
Tijuana, Mexico
Photographer states :: Amazing image of Malibu fire
A Latigo Canyon home is swallowed by the fast-moving wildfire.
• Six firefighters injured. Fire's cause still under investigation.
• At least 35 structures destroyed. 4,500 acres burned. Thousands evacuated.
• Mandatory evacuation zone: From Corral Canyon to Trancas Canyon; Mulholland Highway to coastline.
The 4,500-acre blaze, driven by 50-mph winds, engulfs homes in Corral and Latigo canyons and forces the evacuation of thousands. A small fire in Ramona in San Diego County is quickly controlled.
By Bob Pool and Jason Song, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers 3:21 PM PST, November 24, 2007
As many as 35 structures have been destroyed and hundreds more are threatened in Malibu as a wind-driven fire raced through at least 4,500 acres today in Corral and Latigo canyons, forcing the evacuation of 10,000 to 14,000 people.By mid-afternoon the blaze was 25% contained. Firefighters were making a stand near Kanan Dume Road to stop the fire's northwestward march through steep, heavy brush....
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