Puppet Masters

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

RT
Wed, 19 Mar 2014 04:35 UTC

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.

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

Bill Roggio
The Long War Journal
Tue, 18 Mar 2014 04:23 UTC

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."

Middle East has gone cool towards Qatar

Angy Ghannam, Rana Jawad, Rushdi Abu Alouf and Mark Lobel
BBC News
Mon, 10 Mar 2014 16:28 UTC

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.

Saudi Arabia classifies Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist group

Rania El Gamal
Reuters
Fri, 07 Mar 2014 12:48 UTC

© Reuters/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
Supporters 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.

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

RT
Wed, 02 Oct 2013 16:31 UTC

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.

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

RT
Tue, 18 Mar 2014 15:53 UTC

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.

'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

RT
Tue, 18 Mar 2014 07:20 UTC

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.

Argentine president condemns Western policy on situation in Crimea and reminds the West of the Falkland referendum

Voice of Russia
Tue, 18 Mar 2014 13:31 UTC

Argentine leader Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner recalled that the UN Charter stipulates the right of people to self-determination, which means that this rule should be applied to all countries without any exception.

Kirchner compared the situation in Crimea with another event in modern history. The Falkland Islands also held a referendum a year ago. It is a disputed territory, claimed by both Argentina and the United Kingdom. In 1982, the opposition even resulted in an open military conflict, Russian Channel One reminded.

Britain then defended the Falklands by force of arms, and last March almost all the residents voted to stay a part of the kingdom in a plebiscite. The UN did not question the legality of the vote at that time, Kirchner reminded.

"Many of the major powers, which have secured the Falklands' people right to self-determination, do not want to do the same in relation to the Crimea now. How can you call yourselves guarantors of world stability, if you do not apply the same standards for everyone? It looks like the Crimeans cannot express their will, but the residents of the Falklands can. There is zero logic in that," she said.

The EU countries and the US government refused to recognize the results of the referendum in the Crimea, with region's residents voting almost unanimously for joining Russia.

The US and the UK branded 'Enemies of the Internet' for first time

RT
Tue, 18 Mar 2014 13:06 UTC

The United Kingdom and the US have been branded 'Enemies of the Internet' for the first time by Reporters Without Borders on their annual list of countries which disrupt freedom of information through surveillance and censorship.

Both the US and the UK were included in the list for first time as a result of revelations from the Whistleblower Edward Snowden into the activities of the American and British spy agencies.

In fact Edward Snowden branded the UK, where the government has largely ignored calls to reign in the nation's spooks and the public remain apathetic, as "worse than the US".

Snowden outlines various "widespread surveillance practices" operated by GCHQ as part of its plan called "Mastering the internet".

"The Internet was a collective resource that the NSA and GCHQ turned into a weapon in the service of special interests, in the process flouting freedom of information, freedom of expression and the right to privacy," say the report's authors.

The UK, says the press watchdog, paid scant heed to any legal considerations when harvesting huge amounts of data.

"Supported by the NSA and with the prospect of sharing data, the British agency brushed aside all legal obstacles and embarked on mass surveillance of nearly a quarter of the world's communications," the report says.

Pathetic: US halts Syrian Embassy, consulate operations, tells diplomats to leave

Voice of Russia
Tue, 18 Mar 2014 12:52 UTC

The United States on Tuesday suspended operations of the Syrian Embassy in Washington and its consulates in Michigan and Texas, and told diplomats and staff who are not US citizens or permanent residents to leave the country.

"We have determined it is unacceptable for individuals appointed by that regime to conduct diplomatic or consular operations in the United States," US special envoy for Syria Daniel Rubinstein said in a statement.

Comment: So the US finds it un-acceptable to deal with Syrian diplomatic staff in the US and yet is happy to cozy up to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, the illegitimate premier minister of the violent coup in Ukraine, the Israeli leadership who occupy and terrorise the entire Palestinian population. The list is never ending and so is the hypocrisy displayed by the US.

I said this would happen...now they are looking to mandate companies with less that 100 employees...shits getting real, people[Link]

Bezel Bub

it's all a lie ! :O

cracker

"Falling out of windows" as an occupational hazard for people with access to sensitive information - compliments of the Soviet playbook and even...

Tsakoug

covid will seem like a walk in the park when the proper cold sets in later this month and beyond...

steven23

I've got an idea to help folks like this. Anyone know of any in Central Florida? R.C.

Rowan Cocoan

Puppet Masters

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

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

Middle East has gone cool towards Qatar

Saudi Arabia classifies Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist group

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

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

'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

Argentine president condemns Western policy on situation in Crimea and reminds the West of the Falkland referendum

The US and the UK branded 'Enemies of the Internet' for first time

Pathetic: US halts Syrian Embassy, consulate operations, tells diplomats to leave

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