Puppet MastersS


Pistol

Return of the 'unknown snipers': 2 killed in shooting near military research center as Crimea celebrates joining Russia

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Right Sektor's Dmytro Yarosh is very probably involved
Two people - a self-defense member and a Ukrainian soldier - were killed after snipers opened fire from a partially inhabited building near a military research center in Simferopol. One sniper was reportedly detained, another is on the run.

As RT producer Lida Vasilevskaya arrived at the scene, the perimeter of the Ukrainian military topography and navigation center was already surrounded by men in camouflage and the situation was "calm."

The local Interior Ministry said in a press release that shooting came from a house under construction opposite the center and targeted Crimean self-defense units as well the military center itself.

"Earlier today self-defense units were informed that a group of armed men had been discovered in a partially inhabited building," the press release said. "As the self-defense were taking measures to check, they came under fire, presumably from a sniper rifle," police said, adding that the shooting came "in two directions from one spot."

Comment: Who profits from setting things ablaze on the day Crimea becomes part of Russia?

Yats cries 'war crime' (he clearly doesn't know what a war crime is), and yet the evidence thus far points to the 'unknown snipers' being on his side...

Kiev snipers hired by new coalition, not Yanukovych - Estonian FM to EU chief Ashton


Candle

Non-interventionist Ron Paul on Crimea: None of America's business

Ron Paul
© Reuters / Robert GalbraithRon Paul
Ron Paul is once again speaking up about the situation in Crimea, and this time the former congressman is condemning critics from his own country who are seemingly obsessed with the recent secession.

The former Republican representative for Texas told RT earlier this month that he didn't think the United States had any business meddling in overseas affairs and that worsening tensions in Ukraine should be resolved only by those directly involved. The citizens of Crimea have since approved a referendum to separate from Ukraine, but both the US and European Union responded with sanctions against certain officials from Russia and the former Ukrainian government as a result.

In an op-ed published by USA Today on Monday, Paul asked: "What's the big deal?"

"Opponents of the Crimea vote like to point to the illegality of the referendum," Paul wrote. "But self-determination is a centerpiece of international law."

"Article I of the United Nations Charter points out clearly that the purpose of the UN is to 'develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples,'" he said. "Why does the US care which flag will be hoisted on a small piece of land thousands of miles away?"

"Where were these people when an election held in an Iraq occupied by US troops was called a 'triumph of democracy'?" he asked.

Che Guevara

Crimea protesters occupy Ukrainian Navy base in Sevastopol, tell foreign army to get out

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© Screenshot from UkrStream.TVHeadquarters of the Ukrainian Navy, Sevastopol. Contrary to hysterical Western media reports of "Russian army invading Ukrainian military base", ordinary people rightfully reclaimed it following the legitimate removal of Ukrainian power in Crimea.
Demonstrators have stormed the Ukrainian Navy HQ in the town of Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula.

The protesters hoisted Russian and St. Andrew's flags, the latter being the Russian Navy Ensign, according to Interfax.

People have been protesting outside the HQ since 08:00GMT. Several thousand participants have cut the fences, stormed inside and changed the flags on the flagpoles. There have been no immediate reports of violence.

The participants of the rally are currently holding talks with the representatives of the Ukrainian Navy. Russian forces are not party to the negotiations.

There was an immediate alert on the territory of the HQ and the Ukrainian servicemen lined up in front of the protesters, reports Interfax. The line was broken by cars belonging to activists that entered the territory.

The protesters are calling upon the Ukrainian servicemen to leave the HQ. An ambulance has been called as a precaution.

Stormtrooper

Kiev's fascist government thugs beat head of state TV channel in public and force him to resign, while Russian-language TV channels are banned

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The head of the National Television Company of Ukraine (NTU) has been beaten by members of the nationalist Svoboda party and forced to write a letter of resignation over allegations that his channel aired anti-Ukrainian content.

The office of the acting CEO of the National Television Company of Ukraine, Aleksandr Panteleymonov, was stormed by people who claimed to be members of the 'Freedom of Speech and Information Committee'. What began as a loud conversation quickly turned into a fight.

A video of the incident has been posted online.


Pirates

'Islamic Caucasus Emirate' terrorist group confirms death of 'Russia's Bin Laden', Doku Umarov

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From left to right: Khamzat, the commander of the Riyad-us-Saliheen Martyr Brigade; Doku Umarov, the leader of the Caucasus Emirate; and Saifullah, the suicide bomber of the deadly Jan. 24, 2011 suicide attack at Domodedovo International Airport in Moscow that killed 35 people.
The Islamic Caucasus Emirate, an al Qaeda-linked group that operates in southern Russia, confirmed today that its emir, Doku Umarov, has died. Although Umarov was rumored to have been killed by Russian security forces late last year, the reports have not been confirmed until now.

"The Command of the Caucasus Emirate officially announced the martyrdom of the Emir Doku Abu Usman [Umarov]," according to statement that was released today on Kavkaz Center, a media outlet for the Islamic Caucasus Emirate.

The Islamic Caucasus Emirate did not say how or when Umarov was killed, and the martyrdom statement provided only a brief biography. Umarov had been reported killed several times over the years, only to re-emerge.

Umarov was first reported killed in a statement on Dec. 18, 2013 by Ramzan Kadyrov, the President of the Chechen Republic. But one day later, a video showing the Islamic Caucasus Emirate leader was uploaded to YouTube.

In mid-January 2014, Kadyrov again claimed that Umarov is dead, and said intercepted communications between jihadist leaders in Kabardino-Balkaria and Dagestan mentioned the election of a new "emir."

Coffee

Middle East has gone cool towards Qatar

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Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates withdrew their ambassadors from Qatar last Wednesday after accusing the emirate of meddling in their internal affairs.

Egypt followed suit the next day, formalising a breach of diplomatic ties that began shortly after the overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi.

The move has added to Qatar's isolation over its support for the Muslim Brotherhood and other allied Islamist groups in the region, who in recent months have seen the gains they made in the Arab Spring rolled back.

BBC correspondents around the region describe below how Qatar is now viewed.

Control Panel

Saudi Arabia classifies Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist group

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© Reuters/Amr Abdallah DalshSupporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi shout slogans against the military and interior ministry, while gesturing with four fingers, during a protest in front of riot police outside a police academy, on the outskirts of Cairo January 8, 2014.
Saudi Arabia has formally designated the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization, in a move that could increase pressure on Qatar whose backing for the group has sparked a row with fellow Gulf monarchies.

The U.S.-allied kingdom has also designated as terrorist the Nusra Front and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, whose fighters are battling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the Interior Ministry said in a statement published by state media.

Friday's move appeared to enforce a royal decree last month in which Riyadh, which backs some rebel groups in Syria with money and arms, said it would jail for between three and 20 years any citizen found guilty of fighting in conflicts abroad.

It underscored concern about young Saudis hardened by battle against Assad coming home to target the ruling Al Saud royal family - as has happened after the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Saudi Arabia's Islamic religious authorities have spoken out against Saudi fighters going to Syria, but the Interior Ministry estimates that around 1,200 Saudis have gone nonetheless.

Last month's decree said a committee would be set up to determine the groups to be outlawed. The ministry's statement on Friday said the groups mentioned were those the committee had agreed on and that had been approved by the authorities.

Pistol

Black October '93: Tanks in Moscow, unknown snipers on the roofs, blood on the streets

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In October 1993, Russia was on the brink of civil war. Deputies from the Supreme Soviet of Russia -- the main legislative body in the country - were on one side and President Boris Yeltsin and his supporters on the other. In decree 1400, the president proclaimed that the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation and its deputies were to discontinue their legislative, administrative and executive functions. The deputies responded with a decree removing Yeltsin from the Presidency. This resulted in two days of street fighting, hundreds dead and injured.


Robot

Cyberwarfare? Google 'accidentally' takes RT's YouTube channel offline

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Screenshot from RussiaToday youtube Channel
RT's YouTube channel, which in June last year became the first-ever TV news channel to reach 1 billion views, experienced a temporary shutdown of services on Tuesday, exactly two years after a similar incident.

Google Russia has apologized after a 'technical mistake' suspended RT's YouTube channel Tuesday.

"Access to RT was blocked due to a technical error. The problem has now been resolved, and the channel reopened to users," said a statement from the company's Russian office.

Viewers attempting to access the RT YouTube channel were denied access and told: "This account has been suspended due to multiple or severe violations of YouTube's policy against spam, gaming, misleading content, or other Terms of Service violations."

Front end services were suspended from around 0700 GMT until shortly before 1000 GMT.

Comment: See also:

Making official what they've long been doing: The Launching of U.S. Cyber Command (CYBERCOM)


Bullseye

'The U.S. crossed the red line in Ukraine' - Putin calls out US and EU hypocrisy as he approves draft law for Crimea to join Federation

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Vladimir Putin's decree says that Moscow’s recognition of Crimea as independent is based on 'the will of the people of Crimea'. Photograph: Itar-Tass/Barcroft Media
Crimea's secession from Ukraine was just like Kosovo's secession from Serbia, and any arguments otherwise are just attempts to bend the West-advocated rules that were applied to the Kosovo case, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

The statements came as Putin was addressing the Russian parliament to convince lawmakers to ratify a treaty, which would make Crimea part of the Russian Federation.

In the speech he challenged Washington's position, which says that Kosovo was a unique case and could not justify any other move towards independence in the world.

"Our western partners created the Kosovo precedent with their own hands. In a situation absolutely the same as the one in Crimea they recognized Kosovo's secession from Serbia legitimate while arguing that no permission from a country's central authority for a unilateral declaration of independence is necessary," Putin reminded, adding that the UN International Court of Justice agreed to those arguments.

"That's what they wrote, that what they trumpeted all over the world, coerced everyone into it - and now they are complaining. Why is that?" he asked.