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Russian intel investigating leak of files on newest hypersonic weapons to West


RT
Fri, 20 Jul 2018 17:05 UTC
russian weapons lab
© Russian Defense Ministry / YouTubeRussian weapons lab
Dozens of employees in the Russian missile industry came under intense scrutiny after the FSB reportedly conducted an all-out search for a mole who leaked top secret files on the newest hypersonic weapons to Western intelligence.

The FSB, Russia's domestic intelligence agency, believes classified information on top-notch hypersonic projectiles was leaked out of two major research and development centers based in and outside of Moscow. Citing its own intelligence sources, Kommersant newspaper broke the news that an employee with top secret clearance allegedly leaked the data.

Early Friday morning, FSB operatives searched the quarters of TSNIIMASH (the Central Research Institute of Machine Building) and the United Rocket and Space Corporation (URSC), both part of Russian Space Agency Roscosmos, which was involved in the development of hypersonic projects.

The newspaper reported that all of this comes as part of a recent investigation into the leaking of secret files to foreign intelligence services.
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Heart - Black

Sources tell RT Ecuador will hand over Assange to UK 'in coming weeks or days'


RT
Fri, 20 Jul 2018 16:57 UTC
assange
© Peter Nicholls / Reuters
Ecuador is ready to hand over the WikiLeaks founder to the UK in "coming weeks or even days," RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan said citing her own sources, as prospects of his eviction from the embassy are back in the media.

"My sources tell [Julian] Assange will be handed over to Britain in the coming weeks or even days," Simonyan wrote in a recent tweet which was reposted by WikiLeaks. "Like never before, I wish my sources were wrong," she continued.

Simonyan's message comes, as speculations Ecuador is in talks with the UK over the future of Assange are back again in British press. Earlier this week, the Times reported Britain is locked in top-tier discussions with the Ecuadorians in a bid to remove Assange from their London embassy.

Sir Alan Duncan, the Foreign Office minister, is said to be spearheading the diplomatic effort. Sources close to Assange said he himself was not aware of the talks but believed that America was putting "significant pressure" on Ecuador, including threatening to block a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) if he continues to stay at the embassy.
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Russian authorities launch criminal probe after footage of prisoner being tortured emerges online


RT
Fri, 20 Jul 2018 16:54 UTC
police
© Ramil Sitdikov / Sputnik
Russian authorities have launched a criminal probe after gruesome footage showing a prisoner being tortured in a Russian jail emerged online. It shows a half-naked, handcuffed man being severely beaten by multiple guards.

Russia's Novaya Gazeta newspaper published the video on Friday, but says the incident took place in June of last year in a prison in the central Russian city of Yaroslavl.

Around a dozen officers were filmed beating a prisoner, who's lying on the table, with batons and fists on his legs and heels, and also pouring water on him. The footage was reportedly filmed by a Federal Penitentiary Service officer and was provided to the newspaper by lawyers of the Public Verdict Foundation, a human rights organization.

The prisoner, whose name is Evgeny Makarov according to the paper, reportedly choked and lost consciousness several times, pleading with the guards to stop.

Russia's Investigative Committee has launched criminal proceedings for violent abuse. Earlier, the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia in Yaroslavl Region also launched a probe into the incident and said that all perpetrators will be held accountable.

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Caesar

Russia under Putin's guidance has become sovereign and well-protected from financial storms

Arkady Savitsky
The Strategic Culture Foundation
Fri, 20 Jul 2018 16:47 UTC
russia ministers meeting
During his election campaign, Russian President Vladimir Putin promised to make Russia less vulnerable to geopolitical risks. He has been true to his word. The country is making strides to guarantee its economic stability and financial sovereignty.

The de-dollarization process is in full swing. It was big news last month when the world found out that Russia's US securities holdings had plunged from $96 billion to $48.7. On July 18, it was reported that Moscow had done it again, once more selling off 70% of its US treasuries, leaving it with only $14.9 billion of that $48.7.

Sanctions and trade wars? Yes, the US use of punitive measures as tools of foreign policy prompted the move, but that wasn't the only motive. This is a part of deliberate, long-term policy to put Russia in a strong position globally, taking advantage of the country's negligible amount of international debt and the availability of its sizable gold reserves.
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Russian Flag

Russian Foreign Ministry tweets out support of Maria Butina and Westerners freak out


RT
Fri, 20 Jul 2018 16:39 UTC
butina
The Russian Foreign Ministry's Twitter account has launched a campaign in support of a Russian gun activist jailed in the US for 'acting as an unregistered agent' , opening a floodgate of crude and abusive comments.

Butina, 29, is currently awaiting trial in Washington DC, arrested last week on charges of conspiracy to act, and acting as, an agent of a foreign government without proper notice. Her lawyer says the trial is being politicized and Russian embassy staff were only allowed to visit her in jail on Thursday. Now, the Foreign Ministry is trying to raise awareness of the case, by launching the hashtag #FreeMariaButina and changing its profile picture to Maria's photo on Twitter.

What resulted was a deluge of crude smears and bizarre hyperbole from a diverse squad of anti-Russian, anti-Republican and pro-establishment figures.
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Snakes in Suits

'Britain's hottest politician' sacked for missing key council meeting while partying in Spain


RT
Fri, 20 Jul 2018 14:48 UTC
Carl Casham
A Lib Democrat councilor once branded as one of "Britain's hottest politicians" has been removed from his seat in Merseyside, after he failed to attend a key meeting because he was reveling at one of Europe's biggest festivals.

Carl Casham has been disqualified from the Town Parish council in Knowsley because he gave a no-show at a key meeting while he was at the Benicassim music festival in Costa del Azahar, Spain.

Casham, however, says he was not dismissed, claiming he instead resigned from the position himself. "I resigned my seat because I had too many commitments and needed to focus my work on the people of Knowsley Village and Prescot as a borough councillor.

"It is difficult to stay on a Labour dominated council that ignores its residents and is so heavily biased towards one side of the township," the young politician said, the Liverpool Echo reports.
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Sherlock

The case of Maria Butina - Cults and quadruple agents in Washington

Ronald Thomas West
Fort Russ
Tue, 17 Jul 2018 16:44 UTC
maria butina
"She really did not pass on anything that you couldn't find in the local newspapers..." -Julie Wheelwright
The arrest of Maria Butina hardly seems a case of Mata Hari, but the quote seems apropos at first glance. But then, things get interesting and we can begin to understand why the indictment is vague and only alludes to, rather than names, certain facts.

However, before we go where the Department of Justice dare not name in the indictment, it should be noted if guilt by association is the DoJ standard, then Butina should be exposed as a quadruple agent in circumstance (of fantasy) too embarrassing to the Americans to pursue in open court.

First, the official BS, excuse me, trial and conviction by Western press, including disingenuous neo-liberal foreign press which insists Butina is:
"None other than the assistant to a Russian Central Bank executive"
Well, yes, that's one small part of the story but what is missing should change the perception completely. The Russian Central Bank is historically 'liberal' territory in post Soviet Russia. Putin is not the flat-out autocrat portrayed by Western media, it's much more complex than that. What Putin must do is balance competing interests and economics is where a solid portion of the Russian liberal element is partnered with Putin.
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Dollars

Russia working to wean economy off US dollar as Washington ratchets up sanctions


RT
Fri, 20 Jul 2018 16:20 UTC
US $50 bill
© Thomas White / Reuters
The Russian finance ministry is working on a broad set of measures to protect the country's economy amid growing pressure from the United States, Kommersant daily reports.

The main part of the reforms is a plan to reduce the use of the US dollar in foreign trade transactions in favor of national currencies, according to the news outlet. Russia has recently slashed its ownership of US Treasuries to a 11-year low of $14.5 billion, falling from the list of top holders of US debt.
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Red Flag

Maxine Waters supporters burn American flag, chant 'black power' outside her LA office

Chris Weber
The Washington Times
Thu, 19 Jul 2018 16:07 UTC
Flag burning at Maxine Waters office
© AP
A small crowd that gathered Thursday outside the Los Angeles office of U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters to counter an expected protest by a self-styled militia group burned an American flag taken from the back of a pickup truck.

The incident happened after the far-right Oath Keepers group didn't appear at the office after saying it would rally against the congresswoman.

A group of counter-protesters there to support Waters were chanting "black power" and other slogans when the pickup approached.

The vehicle, occupied by two men who appeared to be white, was stopped by the crowd. Some marchers opened the doors and one grabbed the flag flying on a pole in the bed of the truck, which sped off.
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Health

Russian billionaire dies of heart attack after media wrongly report he killed toddler in car accident


RT
Fri, 20 Jul 2018 15:58 UTC
Igor Nekhluydov
© dalreo.comIgor Nekhluydov
Was fake news the cause of a Russian real estate mogul's death? Igor Nekhluydov suffered a heart attack after hearing reports that a boy injured by his car died. The toddler, however, turned out to be OK.

News of the passing of the 71-year-old billionaire, Igor Nekhluydov, whose wealth was estimated by Forbes at $15 billion back in 2015, made headlines on Thursday. The real estate mogul from the Russian Far East city of Khabarovsk felt sick at work and was rushed to the hospital, but died of a heart attack in an emergency vehicle.

Nekhluydov made headlines days before his death in connection with a traffic accident in which some media claimed a toddler died as a result.

Earlier this week, the billionaire was involved in a minor traffic incident outside the recreation compound he owned, Argumenty i Fakty newspaper reported. While reversing, he accidentally hit a one-year-old boy with his car at low speed.
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