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Croatia finds Russia 'most attractive' to develop economic, cultural ties


ITAR-TASS
Sun, 27 Sep 2015 14:46 UTC
Vesna Pusic
Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic
"The Russian market is one of the most attractive for our economic agents", Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic said

Russia remains one of Croatia's most promising partners in economy, science and culture, Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic said on Sunday.

"We are interested in expanding economic, trade, scientific and technical cooperation with Russia", Pusic, who also serves as the first deputy prime minister, told TASS.

Comment: Once again Russia proves to be the 'go to' country for positive economic relations.

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Crusader

Putin interview on CBS 60 Minutes: Preview of UN speech


Sputnik
Sun, 27 Sep 2015 14:17 UTC
Putin
© Sputnik/ Alexei Druzhinin
Ahead of his much anticipated address at the 70th UN General Assembly in New York, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with American talk show host and journalist Charlie Rose and shed some light on what he is going to talk about.

The interview is set to air on Sunday evening in the United States on the CBS television program 60 Minutes, right on the eve of the President's address to the UN.

As a result, the Russian head of state has specified that he does not "think it reasonable to go into much detail about everything he is going to speak about".

Comment: All eyes on New York for Putin the Great

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Dollars

Facilitating the narco state: Rumors persist regarding the CIA's involvement in Afghanistan's opium trade

Kit O'Connell
Mint Press News
Sat, 19 Sep 2015 14:09 UTC
poppy field
© AP Photo/Abdul KhaleqIn this Friday, April 8, 2011 photo, an Afghan armed man member of the Afghan Public Protection Force destroys an opium poppy field during an eradication campaign in Marjah district, Helmand province of Afghanistan. Afghanistan supplies most of the world’s opium.
Despite billions spent to eradicate opium crops in Afghanistan, the crop is more popular than ever there, leading many to wonder whether some U.S. forces may actually be encouraging its growth and the heroin it later becomes.

In July, the Centers for Disease Control warned of record-breaking numbers of heroin deaths in the United States. "Heroin use more than doubled among young adults ages 18 - 25 in the past decade," the CDC reported.

In the same month, it was reported that opium production is stronger than ever in Afghanistan, which now produces 90 percent of the world's supply of the plant that's refined to create heroin. This rise in production would have been impossible prior to the U.S.-led invasion, and it comes despite some $8.4 billion spent in counternarcotics efforts by the U.S., specifically designated to wipe out opium production in Afghanistan.
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Cell Phone

SOTT Focus: Behind the Headlines: Russia and the Neo-Comintern, interview with Dmitry Babic

Sott Editors
Sott.net
Sun, 27 Sep 2015 18:00 UTC
Dmitry Babich
This week on Behind the Headlines we spoke with Russian journalist Dmitry Babic about current events from Russia's perspective. Babich, a graduate of Moscow State University, has been covering Russian politics for over 25 years. He has previously been a senior correspondent at RIA Novosti, foreign editor at The Moscow News, and editor-in-chief at Russia Profile magazine.

Focusing on Russia's modern political history and international relations, Babic was a political analyst at The Voice of Russia, a role he now continues with Sputnik International. He is a frequent commentator on international TV news, including RT, CNN, CCTV and Al Jazeera.

Behind the Headlines hosts Niall Bradley and Joe Quinn discussed so-called 'color revolutions' with Babic, what's happened in Ukraine since the US-backed coup in Kiev, and the flood of refugees streaming out of the Middle East towards Europe.

Running Time: 01:56:00

Download: MP3

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Dominoes

All just for show? France carries out first airstrikes against Islamic State in Syria


RT
Sun, 27 Sep 2015 13:09 UTC
Dassault Rafale fighter
© Pascal Rossignol / Reuters
France has carried out its first airstrikes on Islamic State positions in Syria, the Élysées Palace said in a statement.

"Our country thus confirms its resolute commitment to fight against the terrorist threat represented by Daesh [Islamic State]. We will strike each time that our national security is at stake," the French Presidency said in a statement, cited by Reuters.

Earlier this week France announced it may carry out airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria as an act of self-defense.

"We are part of the coalition in Iraq [against ISIS]," France's President Francois Hollande said at a news conference. "We started reconnaissance flights [in Syria] to enable us to consider air strikes if they were necessary and they will be necessary in Syria."


Comment: Notice no mention of the Russian led effort to form an anti-ISIS coalition.


Comment: Bombing Syria will not solve the refugee crises and will not be the way to defeat the Islamic State. The world will have to provide Assad with support to enable his army to defeat IS as Putin has clearly stated.

All eyes on New York for Putin the Great

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Quenelle - Golden

Exposing the Daily Telegraph's dangerous Russophobia

Tina Jennings
Russia Insider
Sun, 27 Sep 2015 12:58 UTC
Daily Telegraph
© Unknown
Every now and again I buy an actual paper copy of your newspaper, The Telegraph, usually for the Sudoku. But buried deep inside yesterday's print edition (on page 14), I found this Orwellian headline: "Russia raises tension as US upgrades nuclear arsenal in Europe".

Bizarrely unworthy of front page news, although you'd think it might be... after all, your readers would want to know when the Americans pile more weapons into Europe, since those of us living here will be the ones on the receiving end of retaliatory strikes.

And then there's that nagging cognitive dissonance again between your headline and your content: although it's the US that's increasing its nuclear arsenal in Germany, it's Russia that's raising the tensions... odd, to say the least. How is Russia raising the tension, a reader might plausibly ask? Ah... Russia's thinking of counter-measures to restore the strategic balance on its own borders.

Comment: Also see: Is the US preparing to station nukes in Estonia?

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Bulb

Germany needs Russia for negotiations with Syria


Sputnik
Sun, 27 Sep 2015 04:03 UTC
Putin Merkel
© Sputnik
The endless flow of refugees to EU countries has shifted the balance of power between Europe and Russia, forcing Germany to reconsider its relations with the latter, said Klaus Remme, a journalist at German radio Deutschlandfunk.

If the Syrian conflict isn't throttled down soon, the EU won't be able to handle the stream of millions of refugees, and the consequences could be unpredictable, Remme said.

"In this critical situation we have no other choice but admit that it is necessary to conduct negotiations with [Syrian President Bashar] Assad. [German Vice Chancellor] Sigmar Gabriel pointed out another uncomfortable truth: we need Russia back," the journalist added.

Earlier on Friday, Sigmar Gabriel called for mending relations with Russia and cooperating with the Kremlin in the Syrian conflict, saying that the West can't ask for cooperation while anti-Russia sanctions are in place.

"Gabriel said the West cannot maintain sanctions and ask for cooperation. He is right," Remme stressed.
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Post-It Note

There are no brains in Washington

Paul Craig Roberts
Sputnik
Sat, 26 Sep 2015 11:28 UTC
Image

Washington's IQ follows the Fed's interest rate — it is negative. Washington is a black hole into which all sanity is sucked out of government deliberations.

Washington's failures are everywhere visible. We can see the failures in Washington's wars and in Washington's approach to China and Russia.

The visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping, was scheduled for the week-end following the Pope's visit to Washington. Was this Washington's way of demoting China's status by having its president play second fiddle to the Pope?

Washington's cyber incompetence and inability to maintain cyber security is being blamed on China. The day before Xi Jinping's arrival in Washington, the White House press secretary warmed up President Jinping's visit by announcing that Obama might threaten China with financial sanctions.

Comment: Perhaps it's not that there aren't any brains in Washington exactly, but that their goals and means to an end are so far away from what a normal and well-meaning person would do - so as to be completely incomprehensible. In other words, there are some whackos puppeteering the show whose logic is cogent - but only if you're insane.

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Ambulance

New humanitarian aid from Russia arrives in Syria


Sputnik
Sun, 27 Sep 2015 03:45 UTC
Image
© Sputnik/ Alayeddin Mohamad
Ships with a new batch of humanitarian aid from Russia have arrived at Syrian Tartus Harbour.

Food stuffs, medications, clothes, blankets, tents and other living essentials for refugees are being shipped to Syria along with automotive vehicles for civilian designation and military equipment, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense.

Russian sustainment center specialists are rendering all necessary assistance in unloading the ships with humanitarian aid, TVZvezda reported.

The supplies are being promptly delivered on local vehicles to population centers including temporary refugee camps, each housing around 500 people.

The war-ravaged nation lacks the bare necessities for people who have lost all their possessions in their destroyed home cities. Tens of thousands of refugees have fled Syria for Europe, causing the biggest refugee crisis since the Second World War.

Syria has been mired in a civil war since 2011, as government forces loyal to Assad fight several opposition and radical Islamist militant groups, including the Nusra Front and the Islamic State (ISIL).

Russia has been supplying Syria with humanitarian aid and military equipment for much of the conflict.

Comment: Notice the stark contrast of Russia's involvement in Syria compared to the United States. Not only is Russia delivering needed military supplies to actually fight the terrorists in Syria, but they are also delivering aid to the people in dire need of it. How many news stories has anyone seen about the United States doing the same in any of the many countries that it has ravaged and destroyed?

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Better Earth

SOTT Focus: Sadistic Saudi princes and Washington warmongers Vs Russia's civilizing force

Harrison Koehli
Sott.net
Sat, 26 Sep 2015 15:39 UTC
Baitul Futuh Mosque
Baitul Futuh Mosque, in London.
Today, Saturday, the largest mosque in Europe, the Baitul Futuh Mosque in London, is on fire. Completed in 2003, the 5.2-acre mosque can hold up to 10,000 people and cost a reported £15 million ($23 million) to build. Its ground and first floors are in flames, and around 70 firefighters and 10 engines are working to put them out. Information is still scarce - no word as to the cause or if anyone was hurt or trapped in the building.

This comes just three days after Moscow reopened what is now Russia's biggest mosque, the Moscow Grand Mosque, which sizes up at 4 acres and has a capacity of over 10,000. First built in 1904, it has been completely rebuilt, a project that started four years ago. Turkish President Recep Erdogan and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas spoke, along with Russian President Vladimir Putin, at the grand opening.

The contrast between the two events couldn't be more fitting, given the present political and religious climate.
moscow mosque
© Alexei Druzhinin / ReutersMoscow Grand Mosque in Moscow, Russia.
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