Rows of white chairs were placed in front of Russia’s
embassy in The Hague on Sunday in a quiet protest by families of those
who were shot down with Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, on the eve of the
trial - in absentia - of four men accused of murder for their
involvement.
MH17 was downed over rebel-held territory in eastern
Ukraine in July 2014, by what international investigators say was a
Russian missile sent to help Moscow-backed rebels fight Ukrainian
government forces. All 298 people aboard died, including 196 Dutch
citizens.
Russia, which has been held politically responsible by the Netherlands and Australia, denies any involvement.
“This
is for me a very beautiful symbol for 298 people who perished. They are
gone. My brother never returned,” said Piet Ploeg, whose older brother
Alex died in the crash.
“The idea of the action is to make perfectly clear to the Russian state that they have to cooperate with the investigation”.
Embassy
officials did not comment. Last week a spokesman for President Vladimir
Putin said the Kremlin would wait for the outcome of the trial, but
that it doubted the objectivity of the Dutch-led investigation.
Those
present observed two minutes of silence. White roses were placed on
some of the chairs, and placards stood in the field. One read “The
truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth”, and was accompanied
by a single white rose.
Victims have been incensed by Russia’s
denials of involvement in the conflict in Ukraine, its vote to block the
establishment of a U.N. court for MH17, and its steadfast rejection of
any responsibility for the downing of the plane.
“For us it’s
very important that the trial starts, that all the evidence will be
presented, and that, in the end, an independent court will reach its
verdict. That the world will know what happened, why it happened, and
who was responsible. What was the role of Russia,” said Ploeg.
The
empty chairs, one for each victim, also symbolized the four suspects’
absence from the court. They are believed to be in Russia, which will
not extradite them, and it is not clear whether any of them will conduct
a defense.
Slideshow (8 Images)
Lucy
van der Kerk, who lost her aunt, said she was glad the trial was
happening, but that even a verdict - likely to be years away - would not
take away her family’s pain.
“The story will never end for us,
because we don’t get our aunt back. Those people, they don’t come back,
so it will always hurt.”
U.S.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo testifies before the House Foreign
Affairs Committee hearing on “Trump administration policies on Iran,
Iraq and use of force.” on Capitol Hill, in Washington, U.S. February
28, 2020. REUTERS/Carlos Barria
WASHINGTON
(Reuters) - The United States is reviewing options to assist Turkey
after an attack by Russian-backed Syrian government forces killed 33
Turkish soldiers in Syria’s Idlib province, U.S. Secretary of State Mike
Pompeo said on Friday.
“The United States is engaging with our
Turkish Allies and reviewing options to assist Turkey against this
aggression as we seek to prevent further Assad regime and Russian
brutality and alleviate the humanitarian suffering in Idlib,” Pompeo
said in a statement.
Policemen
stand guard outside the courthouse during a trial of eleven Russian
sailors, accused of smuggling over nine tonnes of cocaine from Central
America, in Praia City, Cape Verde January 27, 2020. REUTERS/ Jolio
Rodrigues
PRAIA (Reuters) - The
Russian captain and crew of a cargo ship captured last year in Cape
Verde with the biggest cocaine haul ever seized in the country were
found guilty of drug trafficking and sentenced to jail on Friday.
The
9.5 tonnes of cocaine were seized in February 2019 after the ship,
which was travelling to Morocco from South America, docked at the port
of Praia for legal reasons following the death of a crew member.
An
Atlantic archipelago of 500,000 people off Africa’s west coast, Cape
Verde has long tried to tackle gangs trafficking Latin American cocaine
to Europe via West Africa.
Captain Sergei Kotlovskii said during
the trial that he had been forced to take the drugs onboard in the
Caribbean by the ship’s owner and that the 10 crew members were not
aware of the illicit cargo.
Kotlovskii got 12 years for
international drug trafficking. The rest of the crew got 10 years for
the same crime. They were acquitted of the second charge of criminal
association.
“All the defendants were aware of the narcotic drug
placed on the vessel and acted with intent, freely and consciously in
exchange for economic benefit,” according to the court judgment read by
Judge Angela Rodrigues.
Defence lawyer Martinho Landim lawyer said he would appeal the decision.
Use
is rising of hard drugs like cocaine, heroin and amphetamines in West
Africa, where countries that once served primarily as transit points for
trade between South America and Europe are now active consumer markets.
Following in the footsteps of the US,
Russia will abandon a centerpiece nuclear arms treaty but will only
deploy intermediate-range nuclear missiles if Washington does so,
President Vladimir Putin said Saturday.
US President Donald Trump accused Moscow on Friday of violating the 1987
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty with “impunity” by deploying
banned missiles. Trump said in a statement that the US will “move
forward” with developing its own military response options to Russia’s
new land-based cruise missiles that could target Western Europe.
Moscow has strongly denied any breaches and accused Washington of making false accusations in order to justify its pullout.
The collapse of the INF Treaty has raised fears of a repeat of a Cold
War showdown in the 1980s, when the US and the Soviet Union both
deployed intermediate-range missiles on the continent. Such weapons were
seen as particularly destabilizing as they only take a few minutes to
reach their targets, leaving no time for decision-makers and raising the
likelihood of a global nuclear conflict over a false launch warning.
After the US gave notice of its intention to withdraw from the treaty in
six months, Putin said Russia would do the same. He ordered the
development of new land-based intermediate-range weapons, but emphasized
that Russia won’t deploy them in the European part of the country or
elsewhere unless the US does so.
“We will respond quid pro quo,” Putin said. “Our American partners have
announced they were suspending their participation in the treaty, and we
will do the same. They have announced they will conduct research and
development, and we will act accordingly.”
The US has accused Russia of developing and deploying a cruise missile
that violates provisions of the pact that ban production, testing and
deployment of land-based cruise and ballistic missiles with a range of
500 to 5,500 kilometers. Trump’s move also reflected his
administration’s view that the pact was an obstacle to efforts needed to
counter intermediate-range missiles deployed by China, which isn’t part
of the treaty.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the treaty would terminate in six
months unless Russia accepts US demands that it verifiably destroy the
cruise missiles that Washington claims are in violation. NATO allies
have strongly backed Washington and urged Moscow to save the treaty by
returning to compliance.
But Russia has categorically rejected the US claims of violation,
charging that the missile, which is part of the Iskander-M missile
system, has a maximum range of 480 kilometers. Russian officials claimed
the US assertions about the alleged breach of the pact by Moscow were
intended to shift the blame for the pact’s demise to Russia.
The Russian Defense Ministry on Saturday released a satellite image of
what it described as new production facilities at the US missile maker
Raytheon’s plant in Tucson, Arizona, noting that their expansion began
in 2017 as the Congress authorized spending for the development of
intermediate-range missiles.
“The character and the timing of the works provide an irrefutable proof
that the US administration had decided to pull out of the INF treaty
years before making unfounded claims of Russian violations,” it said.
Putin has argued it makes no sense for Russia to deploy a ground-based
cruise missile violating the treaty because it has such weapons on ships
and aircraft, which aren’t banned by the pact.
Speaking Saturday in a televised meeting with his foreign and defense
ministers, Putin instructed the military to work on developing new
land-based weapons that were previously forbidden by the INF treaty.
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported to Putin that they would include
a land-based version of the Kalibr ship-based cruise missile and a new
hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile.
Putin emphasized that such new weapons won’t be deployed unless the US does so.
“Russia will not station intermediate-range weapons in Europe or other
regions until similar US weapons appear in those regions,” he said.
The Russian leader said Moscow remains open to talks with Washington, but added it would be up to the US to take the first step.
“Let’s wait until our partners are mature enough to conduct an equal and substantive dialogue on those issues,” he said.
At the same time, Putin told his ministers that he would like to review
the progress on building other prospective weapons that don’t fall under
the INF treaty, including the intercontinental Avangard hypersonic
glide vehicle and the Poseidon underwater nuclear-powered drone.
He noted Shoigu’s report that a key stage in testing of the Poseidon was
completed several days ago. The drone is designed to carry a heavy
nuclear weapon that could cause a devastating tsunami wave.
The Russian leader last year unveiled an array of new nuclear weapons,
including the Avangard and the Poseidon, saying that they can’t be
intercepted.
Putin also noted during Saturday’s meeting that he would like the
military to prepare a response to the possible deployment of weapons in
space.
The Pentagon’s new strategy unveiled last month calls for a new array of
space-based sensors and other high-tech systems to more quickly detect
and shoot down incoming missiles.
Putin instructed the military to make sure the research and development
works on new weapons don’t swell military spending. He said the military
must reconfigure the existing defense budget to find money for the new
weapons.
“We must not and will not be drawn into a costly arms race,” he said.
Russian oil output declined to 11.38 million barrels per day (bpd) in
January, or by around 35,000 bpd from the October 2018 level, the
baseline for the global oil accord, missing the deal’s target, Energy
Ministry data showed on Saturday.
This was down from 11.45 million bpd in December, a record monthly high.
In tons, oil output reached 48.113 million versus 48.442 million in
December.
Russian oil pipeline exports in January fell to 4.313 million bpd from 4.496 million bpd in December.
Rosneft, the world’s largest oil producer by output, reduced its
production by 0.1 percent last month from December, while second-largest
Russian oil producer Lukoil saw production cuts of 0.8 percent.
Output at Rosneft’s largest unit, RN-Yuganskneftegaz, declined by 0.8
percent after a blaze ripped through Priobskoye oilfield in early
January. Production at Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of gas giant Gazprom,
edged up by 0.1 percent.
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak has said the country’s overall cuts would total 50,000 bpd in January from October.
The Organization of the Petroleum Producing Countries and other leading
global oil producers agreed in December to cut their combined output by
1.2 million bpd in order to support oil prices and evenly balance the
market.
Of that, Russia has pledged to cut its production by around 230,000 bpd in the first quarter.
Novak has also said Russia was unable to reduce oil output sharply due
to technical limitations but would try to do so more quickly.
Reducing production presents a challenge because Russia’s harsh winter
climate can cause wells to freeze, Russian officials and analysts have
said.
According to a Reuters survey, OPEC oil supply has fallen in January by the largest amount in two years.
Russian natural gas production was at 67.43 billion cubic meters (bcm)
last month, or 2.18 bcm a day, versus 67.04 bcm in December.
Political strategist Roger Stone, a long-time ally of President Trump,
has been arrested in Florida, charged with seven counts in the Mueller
probe.
Mr Stone appeared in court in the city of Fort Lauderdale.
The indictment includes one count of obstruction of an official
proceeding, five counts of false statements, and one count of
witness-tampering.
The charges are linked to an alleged Russian-led hack into the emails of Democratic Party officials.
The information contained in the emails was released by Wikileaks during the 2016 US presidential election campaign.
CNN reports that FBI agents arrested Mr Stone in a pre-dawn raid on
Friday. One pounded on the door and said, "FBI, open the door," the US
cable network says.
After news of his old friend's arrest, President Donald Trump slammed
the Russia investigation once again on Twitter, calling it the "Greatest
Witch Hunt in the History of our Country!"
What exactly is Stone being charged with?
The special counsel has accused Mr Stone of attempting to obstruct the investigation into Russian meddling by:
Lying to the House Intelligence Committee about what transpired between him and Wikileaks
Lying to the committee about records of his interactions with Wikileaks
Witness tampering, for trying to keep his Wikileaks intermediary from telling the truth to Congress
The indictment does not say Mr Stone committed any criminal activity during the election.
How did Roger Stone respond?
He was released on a $250,000 bond, but with restrictions allowing him
to travel only for court appearances in Florida, Washington DC and New
York.
After his court appearance, Mr Stone spoke on the phone to conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on his radio programme Infowars.
"I intend to fight for my life," Mr Stone said as he launched a
fundraiser for his legal battle. "There's no circumstance under which I
would plead guilty to these charges.
"There's no circumstance under which I would bear false witness to the president."
He added: "Once again, there is no evidence of Russian collusion,
Wikileaks collaboration and I'm not charged with doing anything
inappropriate or illegal to assist in his [Mr Trump's] election."
Mr Stone then emerged from court grinning broadly while flashing a
Nixonian double V-sign and wearing a blue Ralph Lauren polo shirt.
He maintained his innocence though was at times inaudible because of loud boos and chants of "Lock him up!"
Mr Stone said he would formally plead not guilty to the charges in a Washington DC court next week.
He declared himself the target of "a politically motivated investigation" and criticised the manner of his arrest.
"At the crack of dawn, 29 FBI agents arrived at my home with 17 vehicles
with lights flashing. They terrorised my wife [and] my dogs."
What links Stone to the email hack?
Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign chairman John Podesta, who was targeted
in the email hack, accused Mr Stone of knowing about it beforehand.
More than a month before the emails were made public, Mr Stone tweeted
it would soon be Mr Podesta's "time in a barrel", which critics say
indicates he already knew about the hack.
Mr Stone has denied having advance knowledge of the cyber-breach and any knowing contact with Russian agents.
On Friday, Mr Podesta referenced the cryptic tweet in a post about Mr
Stone's indictment, noting it was "Roger's time in the barrel".
According to investigators, Mr Stone said he had "communicated" with
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange before the emails' release and had
described the contact as "perfectly legal".
The indictment accuses the lobbyist of lying to the House Intelligence
Committee about what passed between him and Wikileaks, and of falsely
claiming not to have records of it.
Mr Stone is said to have spoken to senior Trump campaign officials - who
are not identified - about "organization 1" [believed to be Wikileaks]
"and information it might have had that would be damaging to the Clinton
Campaign".
Prosecutors say Mr Stone was also contacted by unnamed "senior Trump
campaign officials" to inquire about future Wikileaks releases.
His campaign activities have long been under scrutiny by Special Counsel
Robert Mueller, who is investigating allegations of collusion between
Russia and the Trump campaign.
In 2016, US intelligence agencies concluded that Russia had tried to
turn the election in Mr Trump's favour through state-sponsored
cyber-attacks and fake news stories spread on social media.
The Mueller investigation has also focused on Mr Stone's communications
with Twitter persona Guccifer 2.0, which US intelligence officials say
is a front for Russian military intelligence.
Mr Trump has repeatedly assailed the Mueller inquiry. The Kremlin has always denied meddling in the US election.
The president's counsel, Jay Sekulow, said: "The indictment today does
not allege Russian collusion by Roger Stone or anyone else. Rather the
indictment focuses on alleged false statements made to Congress".
Tom Perez, chair of the Democratic National Committee, accused the Trump
campaign of being "a willing and active participant in a conspiracy
with Russia and Wikileaks" in a statement.
Mr Perez added that "there are more conspirators yet to be held accountable - and at least one of them is named Donald Trump".
Mr Stone has repeatedly said in interviews that he expected to be
indicted. In May he told NBC's Meet the Press: "It is not inconceivable
now that Mr Mueller and his team may seek to conjure up some extraneous
crime pertaining to my business, or maybe not even pertaining to the
2016 election."
Who's been charged in the Mueller probe?
Mr Stone is the 34th person to be charged as part of the Mueller
investigation. Those indicted include 12 Russian military officers and
13 Russian nationals accused of leading a campaign to interfere in the
US election.
Another three Russian entities, including the Internet Research Agency "troll farm", have also been charged.
Several people connected directly with Mr Trump have been indicted,
including his former national security adviser Michael Flynn, and Paul
Manafort, the former chairman of his election campaign, who is in jail.
Mr Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen and former campaign adviser George Papadopoulos have also been charged.
Who is Roger Stone?
An old friend of Donald Trump, Roger Stone has worked on Republican political campaigns since the 1970s.
The 66-year-old favours three-piece suits and reportedly does not wear socks.
He began his career working on Richard Nixon's 1972 re-election bid, and
has a tattoo of the 37th president across his shoulder blades.
Mr Stone became embroiled in the Watergate scandal after congressional
hearings revealed that he hired an operative to infiltrate the campaign
of George McGovern, Mr Nixon's Democratic opponent.
He went on to work for Ronald Reagan's successful presidential campaigns
in 1980 and 1984, and advised George HW Bush in his bid for the White
House in 1988.
Mr Stone published a book, The Making of the President 2016, after helping Mr Trump to power.
The Arab League suspended Syria’s membership in November 2011
‘The question of Syria returning to the Arab League does not depend on Tunisia but on the Arab League’
TUNIS: Syria’s “natural place” is within the Arab League, Tunisia’s
foreign minister said Saturday, ahead of the organization’s annual
summit in Tunis in March.
“Syria is an Arab state, and its natural place is within the Arab
League,” Khemaies Jhinaoui said during a news conference with his
Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, who is on a tour of North African
countries.
The Arab League suspended Syria’s membership in November 2011 as the death toll in the country’s civil war mounted.
“The question of Syria returning to the Arab League does not depend on Tunisia but on the Arab League,” Jhinaoui said.
“The foreign ministers (of member states) will decide on this subject,”
he added. “What interests us is Syria’s stability and security.”
Persistent divisions between the Arab League’s member states have worked against Syria’s readmission.
Russia’s intervention in Syria’s war since 2015 in favor of President
Bashar Assad has turned the tide of the conflict in the regime’s favor.
The United Arab Emirates reopened its embassy in Damascus in December,
the same month Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir made the first visit of
any Arab leader to the Syrian capital since the start of the war.
But Qatar earlier this month rejected normalizing ties with Assad.
Lavrov backed overtures to readmit Syria.
“As we have discussed in Algeria and Morocco over the past few days, we
would like Tunis to also support Syria’s return to the Arab family, the
Arab League,” he said in Tunis.
Lavrov, who has also visited Morocco on his tour, said that Tunisia and Russia agreed to ramp up “anti-terror cooperation.”
In reference to Franco-Italian differences on Libya, he said: “We must
harmonize the efforts of outside mediators seeking a settlement to the
Libyan conflict.
“This must be done under the sponsorship of the United Nations and
taking into account the points of view of neighbors such as Tunisia,
Algeria and Egypt.”
Russia’s foreign minister, winding up his North Africa visit, also met Tunisia’s president and prime minister on Saturday.
Political strategist Roger Stone, a long-time ally of President Trump,
has been arrested in Florida, charged with seven counts in the Mueller
probe.
Mr Stone appeared in court in the city of Fort Lauderdale.
The indictment includes one count of obstruction of an official
proceeding, five counts of false statements, and one count of
witness-tampering.
The charges are linked to an alleged Russian-led hack into the emails of Democratic Party officials.
The information contained in the emails was released by Wikileaks during the 2016 US presidential election campaign.
CNN reports that FBI agents arrested Mr Stone in a pre-dawn raid on
Friday. One pounded on the door and said, "FBI, open the door," the US
cable network says.
After news of his old friend's arrest, President Donald Trump slammed
the Russia investigation once again on Twitter, calling it the "Greatest
Witch Hunt in the History of our Country!"
What exactly is Stone being charged with?
The special counsel has accused Mr Stone of attempting to obstruct the investigation into Russian meddling by:
Lying to the House Intelligence Committee about what transpired between him and Wikileaks
Lying to the committee about records of his interactions with Wikileaks
Witness tampering, for trying to keep his Wikileaks intermediary from telling the truth to Congress
The indictment does not say Mr Stone committed any criminal activity during the election.
How did Roger Stone respond?
He was released on a $250,000 bond, but with restrictions allowing him
to travel only for court appearances in Florida, Washington DC and New
York.
After his court appearance, Mr Stone spoke on the phone to conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on his radio programme Infowars.
"I intend to fight for my life," Mr Stone said as he launched a
fundraiser for his legal battle. "There's no circumstance under which I
would plead guilty to these charges.
"There's no circumstance under which I would bear false witness to the president."
He added: "Once again, there is no evidence of Russian collusion,
Wikileaks collaboration and I'm not charged with doing anything
inappropriate or illegal to assist in his [Mr Trump's] election."
Mr Stone then emerged from court grinning broadly while flashing a
Nixonian double V-sign and wearing a blue Ralph Lauren polo shirt.
He maintained his innocence though was at times inaudible because of loud boos and chants of "Lock him up!"
Mr Stone said he would formally plead not guilty to the charges in a Washington DC court next week.
He declared himself the target of "a politically motivated investigation" and criticised the manner of his arrest.
"At the crack of dawn, 29 FBI agents arrived at my home with 17 vehicles
with lights flashing. They terrorised my wife [and] my dogs."
What links Stone to the email hack?
Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign chairman John Podesta, who was targeted
in the email hack, accused Mr Stone of knowing about it beforehand.
More than a month before the emails were made public, Mr Stone tweeted
it would soon be Mr Podesta's "time in a barrel", which critics say
indicates he already knew about the hack.
Mr Stone has denied having advance knowledge of the cyber-breach and any knowing contact with Russian agents.
On Friday, Mr Podesta referenced the cryptic tweet in a post about Mr
Stone's indictment, noting it was "Roger's time in the barrel".
According to investigators, Mr Stone said he had "communicated" with
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange before the emails' release and had
described the contact as "perfectly legal".
The indictment accuses the lobbyist of lying to the House Intelligence
Committee about what passed between him and Wikileaks, and of falsely
claiming not to have records of it.
Mr Stone is said to have spoken to senior Trump campaign officials - who
are not identified - about "organization 1" [believed to be Wikileaks]
"and information it might have had that would be damaging to the Clinton
Campaign".
Prosecutors say Mr Stone was also contacted by unnamed "senior Trump
campaign officials" to inquire about future Wikileaks releases.
His campaign activities have long been under scrutiny by Special Counsel
Robert Mueller, who is investigating allegations of collusion between
Russia and the Trump campaign.
In 2016, US intelligence agencies concluded that Russia had tried to
turn the election in Mr Trump's favour through state-sponsored
cyber-attacks and fake news stories spread on social media.
The Mueller investigation has also focused on Mr Stone's communications
with Twitter persona Guccifer 2.0, which US intelligence officials say
is a front for Russian military intelligence.
Mr Trump has repeatedly assailed the Mueller inquiry. The Kremlin has always denied meddling in the US election.
The president's counsel, Jay Sekulow, said: "The indictment today does
not allege Russian collusion by Roger Stone or anyone else. Rather the
indictment focuses on alleged false statements made to Congress".
Tom Perez, chair of the Democratic National Committee, accused the Trump
campaign of being "a willing and active participant in a conspiracy
with Russia and Wikileaks" in a statement.
Mr Perez added that "there are more conspirators yet to be held accountable - and at least one of them is named Donald Trump".
Mr Stone has repeatedly said in interviews that he expected to be
indicted. In May he told NBC's Meet the Press: "It is not inconceivable
now that Mr Mueller and his team may seek to conjure up some extraneous
crime pertaining to my business, or maybe not even pertaining to the
2016 election."
Who's been charged in the Mueller probe?
Mr Stone is the 34th person to be charged as part of the Mueller
investigation. Those indicted include 12 Russian military officers and
13 Russian nationals accused of leading a campaign to interfere in the
US election.
Another three Russian entities, including the Internet Research Agency "troll farm", have also been charged.
Several people connected directly with Mr Trump have been indicted,
including his former national security adviser Michael Flynn, and Paul
Manafort, the former chairman of his election campaign, who is in jail.
Mr Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen and former campaign adviser George Papadopoulos have also been charged.
Who is Roger Stone?
An old friend of Donald Trump, Roger Stone has worked on Republican political campaigns since the 1970s.
The 66-year-old favours three-piece suits and reportedly does not wear socks.
He began his career working on Richard Nixon's 1972 re-election bid, and
has a tattoo of the 37th president across his shoulder blades.
Mr Stone became embroiled in the Watergate scandal after congressional
hearings revealed that he hired an operative to infiltrate the campaign
of George McGovern, Mr Nixon's Democratic opponent.
He went on to work for Ronald Reagan's successful presidential campaigns
in 1980 and 1984, and advised George HW Bush in his bid for the White
House in 1988.
Mr Stone published a book, The Making of the President 2016, after helping Mr Trump to power.
Russia's athletics federation has said it will withdraw its appeal against its ban from international competition.
The federation said on January 25 that its withdrawal of the appeal was
connected to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) decision this week not
to suspend RUSADA, Russia's antidoping agency, despite Moscow missing a
deadline to hand over laboratory data.
The federation had filed an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport
(CAS) in September against a decision by the world governing body for
track and field, the IAAF, to extend the ban that was imposed in
November 2015 after a study commissioned by WADA found that the use of
performance-enhancing drugs by athletes in Russia was systemic and
state-sponsored.
To be reinstated, the IAAF has said Russia also must acknowledge the
findings of that report -- including an admission that doping in Russia
was state-sponsored.
Russia has accepted that doping has been widespread. But authorities in Moscow continue to deny any of it was state sponsored.
"I'm convinced that at the moment we need to focus efforts on
negotiations with the IAAF regarding the reinstatement on issues which
are under our control, and not waste time and strength on legal
processes," Russian athletics federation President Dmitry Shlyakhtin
said in a statement.
Despite the ban, several Russian athletes have been cleared to compete
internationally as neutrals after demonstrating they are training in
doping-free environments.
Activist Group Publishes 'Hacked E-Mails' From Russia
A self-described "transparency collective" has released a massive trove
of hacked e-mails and leaked documents from what it describes as
"Russian politicians, journalists, oligarchs, [and] religious, and
social figures."
The materials were published online on January 25 by a group calling
itself Distributed Denial of Secrets (DDOS), which says it is "aimed at
enabling the free transmission of data in the public interest."
The co-founder of the group, U.S. journalist Emma Best, said the
materials would include various archives of hacked and leaked materials
related to Russia that have been difficult for researchers to locate,
the Daily Beast reported on January 25.
The group's website would bring together these materials into one location online, Best said.
A day before the release, Best, a transparency activist focusing on
national-security matters, told RFE/RL that some of the documents slated
for release had not "previously" been found by the group.
"The rest is rather obscure and largely unknown or forgotten," Best said.
"We can’t certify that any portion of it has never been released, though," Best added.
Numerous batches of private e-mails and documents from Russian officials
and businessman have been published online in recent years, including
those purportedly from the e-mail account of senior Kremlin aide
Vladislav Surkov.
Ukrainian hackers claimed responsibility for an alleged 2016 hack of
Surkov’s e-mail account, the contents of which appeared to show his
office’s involvement with Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.
The Kremlin at the time did not explicitly say that the contents of
those materials were fraudulent but suggested they may have been forged.
DDOS said the documents it released on January 25 included materials
from "nationalists," "separatists," and "terrorists" operating in
Ukraine.
MOSCOW: Russia said on Wednesday that Israel should stop carrying out
what Moscow called arbitrary airstrikes on Syria, days after the Israeli
air force targeted what Israel said were Iranian forces there.
Israel has repeatedly attacked what it describes as Iranian targets in
Syria and those of allied militia, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah. Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu describes the effort as an open-ended
campaign to push back arch-foe Tehran.
The strikes have long caused friction between Israel and Russia, which
apart from Iran is Bashar Assad’s other major foreign backer.
Israeli officials have spoken in the past of an agreement with Moscow
under which they have made clear their strikes on Syria would not
threaten Assad, while Russia has promised to help limit Iranian
influence near the Israeli frontier. A hotline set up since 2015 is
aimed at ensuring Russian forces in Syria are not surprised by Israeli
attacks.
“The practice of arbitrary strikes on the territory of a sovereign
state, in this case, we are talking about Syria, should be ruled out,”
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, in answer to a
question from Russian news agency TASS about recent Israeli airstrikes
on Syria.
She said such strikes added to tensions in the region, which she said
was not in the long-term interests of any country there, including
Israel.
“We should never allow Syria, which has suffered years of armed
conflict, to be turned into an arena where geopolitical scores are
settled,” TASS cited her as saying.
Her comments follow Israeli strikes in Syria on Monday. Israel did not immediately respond.
Earlier on Wednesday, Netanyahu signaled that the Syria sorties would continue.
A rescue operation in the Russian Far East found the body of one pilot
and rescued another after two fighter jets collided over the Sea of
Japan during a training flight on Friday, Russian media reported.
Russian news agencies quoted the ministry as saying that the body of one pilot was found “without any sign of life.”
The Russian Su-34 bombers touched in mid-air and fell into the sea near
the Strait of Tartary, which separates Russia’s Sakhalin island from the
mainland, according to the country’s Investigative Committee.
The committee also said it had opened a criminal investigation into the case.
PARIS: Saudi Arabia demonstrated its resolve to lift oil prices by
slashing output ahead of the entry into force of new pact limiting
production while Russia boosted output to a record level, the
International Energy Agency said Friday.
World oil markets have been on a rollercoaster ride in recent months,
with OPEC and its partners including Russia, often called OPEC+,
agreeing to cut back production again from January in order to reverse a
slump in oil prices on abundant production and worries about slower
global growth.
In its latest monthly report, the Paris-based International Energy
Agency said the Saudis took the lead by cutting output in December as
prices tumbled by more than a third in just two months.
“Recently, leading producers have restated their commitment to cut
output and data show that words were transformed into actions,” said the
IEA.
“While Saudi Arabia is determined to protect its price aspirations by
delivering substantial production cuts, there is less clarity with
regard to its Russian partner,” it added.
But the cut was mostly due to the Saudis, with data indicating several OPEC members increased production last month.
The IEA said data show that Russia increased crude oil production in
December “to a new record near 11.5 mbd (million barrels per day) and it
is unclear when it will cut and by how much.”
OPEC members along with allies including Russia agreed in early December
to trim production by 1.2 mbd from Jan. 1, in a bid to eliminate a
production glut and shore up prices.
Just months earlier, they had relaxed production caps as prices shot
higher on market worries about the impact of US sanctions on Iran, but
Washington eventually granted waivers allowing several countries to
continue to import Iranian oil.
Meanwhile, US production rose considerably more than expected last year,
adding further to supplies, while concerns about demand emerged as the
US-China trade spat deepened in the second half of last year.
The IEA said the US increased output by 2.1 mbd last year, the “highest ever” annual growth ever recorded.
The boom of shale oil production in the US this decade has redrawn the
map of global energy politics as the nation no longer depends as heavily
on imports and has even resumed exports.
The IEA said “the US, already the biggest liquids supplier, will
reinforce its leadership as the world’s number one crude producer” in
2019.
“By the middle of the year, US crude output will probably be more than the capacity of either Saudi Arabia or Russia.”
The IEA left its estimate for global oil growth in 2019 unchanged at an
increase of 1.4 mbd, saying “the impact of higher oil prices in 2018 is
fading, which will help offset lower economic growth.”
It said there were signs that the rebalancing of the oil market will be gradual. https://www.geezgo.com/sps/52386 Join Geezgo for free. Use Geezgo's end-to-end encrypted Chat with your Closenets (friends, relatives, colleague etc) in personalized ways.>>
VLADIVOSTOK, Russia -- On January 3, Russian freelance journalist
Yekaterina Fedorova hit send on a Facebook post that sent shockwaves
through this Far Eastern port city and across the country. The post
thrust her into the middle of a #MeToo controversy magnified by Russia's
predominantly macho, patriarchal society.
"On October 13, I was raped," her post began. "I have known the man who did it since 2015."
The perpetrator, Fedorova alleged, was Aleksei Migunov, the co-founder of Vladivostok's powerful PrimaMedia group.
In a Facebook post of his own on January 6, Migunov denied the
allegations, saying "there was no rape and no violence." He claimed he
had "received several messages from people who had been victims of
contact with Yekaterina but who managed to buy their way out with
money." Migunov also said he had suspended his work for PrimaMedia and
in public organizations to avoid "involving the company or organization
in this personal episode."
"Men," he added, "be alert -- you might be used. Dear women, you are already being used."
Migunov declined RFE/RL's request for an interview about the allegations.
'It Hurt A Lot'
Fedorova, who has worked as a freelance correspondent for the Siberia
Desk of RFE/RL's Russian Service since November, described meeting with
Migunov that October evening at a cafe near her home. After the two
drank for a while, she said, he insisted on walking her home. When they
reached her building, he began physically assaulting her, she alleged.
"I asked him to stop, but he continued," she wrote. "I told him he was
hurting me. He asked me where and then hit me harder in the same spot,
laughing. I asked him to finish.... I told him he was fine but that I
felt bad and couldn't get excited. Please, stop. Please, go away. But he
didn't leave and continued to assault me."
She acknowledged that she was drunk and said her reaction was
"inadequate." But she was adamant that she said "no" clearly and that he
understood her and knew she was in pain.
In an interview with RFE/RL, Fedorova said Migunov was in her apartment for about three hours.
"He never punched me," she said. "He never kicked me. But he pulled my
hair and choked me. He restrained my arms and bit my face -- it hurt a
lot. He was simply biting into my face, my neck, shoulders, breast.
Wherever he could."
She described repeatedly pleading for the ordeal to end.
In her RFE/RL interview, she said she and Migunov had known each other
for around three years, describing a series of encounters that included a
request for help getting a job, a declined invitation to a country
house, and an offer of help from a man "much higher in status than me,"
with "no vulgar jokes [or] vile hints."
Fedorova had initiated the meeting in October, she suggested, in hopes of asking him for a loan.
Fedorova did not report the incident to the police.
Blaming The Victim
"Rape is one of the most latent crimes," Vladivostok lawyer Mari Davtyan
told RFE/RL. "Women who are assaulted often do not go to the police for
many reasons. The first is shame. These days, as in the past, Russian
society tries to place responsibility for such crimes on the victim.
'You are to blame,' is the most common comment in such cases. 'You
didn't act properly.' 'You didn't speak out.' 'You did something wrong.'
And so on. Women know that, in the eyes of the public, she will be
blamed for what happened and shame becomes an obstacle to reporting it
to the police."
Davtyan recalled that in March 2018, three female journalists accused
Russian Duma Deputy Leonid Slutsky of sexual harassment. But a Duma
committee cleared him of any wrongdoing and Duma speaker Vyacheslav
Volodin said female journalists should change their jobs if they don't
like the behavior of deputies.
Deputy Tamara Pletnyova expressed a similar opinion.
"I would like to say that these girl journalists should look more
decent, put clothes on themselves when entering a state building,
instead of having their belly buttons naked," Pletnyova said in an
interview with Ekho Moskvy radio. "Volodin is right and I fully support
him. If they are scared and are offended, they should not come here."
According to most recent available government figures, 3,900 rapes or
attempted rapes were registered in 2015, leading to 2,700 convictions.
Activists, however, estimate that only about 10 percent of victims
approach the police and that police only register about 20 percent of
those reports.
The charges against Slutsky produced a small online movement using the
hashtag I Am Not Afraid To Speak that was similar to the #MeToo movement
in the West.
Fedorova said she decided to go public with her story after reading a
Facebook post by the wife of a man she once knew. On January 2, the
woman, also a journalist, posted a photo of herself with facial bruises,
saying that her husband had beaten and choked her. Her post was quickly
inundated with comments from people who expressed disbelief or sought
to blame the wife. The comments aroused strong feelings of guilt in
Fedorova.
'Unjust And Cruel World'
In 2015, Fedorova said, she had her own encounter with the same man. She
said she was fired from her job after reporting that he had threatened
to rape her.
"When I reported [him] for threatening me in 2015, I was fired within an
hour," she told RFE/RL. "I was sobbing -- what an unjust and cruel
world. It is awful, but what can I do? Nothing. He didn't rape me. He
didn't touch me. He just frightened me by saying that he would rape me."
"I could hardly breathe because of my feeling of guilt that I hadn't
said anything to anyone about [the threat] and now people weren't
believing his wife," she said. "If my story had been made public, maybe
this wouldn't have happened to her. Or maybe people would believe her
now. I wrote a comment supporting her, saying, 'Yes, [he] is capable of
this.' And when I wrote about [that woman's husband], I understood that I
had no moral right to hide what Migunov had done to me."
Her motive, she said, was to warn potential future victims.
"You can talk as much as you want about how I am to blame and how I did
everything to get myself raped, but if I had had even the slightest hint
from some woman that he had done something like this to her,... that he
had hurt her, I would never have gone anywhere with him," she said. "I
don't care if he is punished or not punished. I don't want anything from
him. I don't care where he is or what he is doing. But I want women to
know what he is capable of."
Fedorovna said she continues to deal with the trauma of the incident.
"I am seeing a psychiatrist," she told RFE/RL. "I have a prescription
for antidepressants and tranquilizers to help me sleep. But I still
can't be alone in my apartment. For the last two months I have either
had someone stay here or I spent the night somewhere else. I can only be
at home during the day. I don't go out anywhere in the evening
anymore.... I try to work so much that I don't think about what
happened."
DUBAI: Iran and Russia are preparing to hold joint naval exercises in
the Caspian Sea, including rescue and anti-piracy drills, the commander
of the Iranian navy was quoted on Sunday as saying.
“Tactical, rescue and anti-piracy war games between Iranian and Russian
naval forces are being planned and will be implemented in the near
future,” the semi-official news agency Mehr quoted Rear Admiral Hossein
Khanzadi as saying.
Iran and Russia have held several naval drills in the Caspian Sea, including in 2015 and 2017.
Iran and Russia have close ties, including in Syria where they both back President Bashar Assad in the country’s civil war.
Khanzadi reiterated Iran’s opposition to the military presence of any
country from outside the region in the Caspian Sea, saying: “All
countries around the Caspian have the same approach,” Mehr reported.
Russia said last year it was firmly committed to deepening ties with
Iran despite a US decision to quit an international nuclear deal and
reimpose sanctions on Tehran. https://www.geezgo.com/sps/51636 Join Geezgo for free. Use Geezgo's end-to-end encrypted Chat with your Closenets (friends, relatives, colleague etc) in personalized ways.>>
DUBAI: Iran and Russia are preparing to hold joint naval exercises in
the Caspian Sea, including rescue and anti-piracy drills, the commander
of the Iranian navy was quoted on Sunday as saying.
“Tactical, rescue and anti-piracy war games between Iranian and Russian
naval forces are being planned and will be implemented in the near
future,” the semi-official news agency Mehr quoted Rear Admiral Hossein
Khanzadi as saying.
Iran and Russia have held several naval drills in the Caspian Sea, including in 2015 and 2017.
Iran and Russia have close ties, including in Syria where they both back President Bashar Assad in the country’s civil war.
Khanzadi reiterated Iran’s opposition to the military presence of any
country from outside the region in the Caspian Sea, saying: “All
countries around the Caspian have the same approach,” Mehr reported.
Russia said last year it was firmly committed to deepening ties with
Iran despite a US decision to quit an international nuclear deal and
reimpose sanctions on Tehran. https://www.geezgo.com/sps/51636 Join Geezgo for free. Use Geezgo's end-to-end encrypted Chat with your Closenets (friends, relatives, colleague etc) in personalized ways.>>
A list of BBC correspondents working in Russia has been leaked online
after Russia's media regulator, Roskomnadzor, said it was checking the
legality of the BBC World News channel's Russian operations and its
websites.
The list of 44 journalists, most of them Russian nationals, appears to
have first been published in the anonymously run For Mother Russia group
on the VKontakte social network on December 25.
Hours later, the list of reporters -- along with their photographs --
appeared on the Russian site Pikabu, which resembles Reddit.
The leak came days after The Times published a list of names and
photographs of eight reporters working for the Kremlin-backed Sputnik's
U.K. bureau in Edinburgh.
The Russian Embassy in London reacted angrily, saying Moscow "will respond in kind."
The For Mother Russia group accused The Times of trying to put
"psychological pressure" on Russian journalists and "discredit" them.
A BBC spokesperson expressed frustration at the leak.
"The BBC has strict editorial guidelines and has not published the
details of journalists from other media organizations as there was no
editorial reason or justification to do so. We are disappointed at the
groundless publication of our Moscow team's details," the spokesperson
was quoted by British media as saying on December 27.
The leak of the list of BBC journalists also came a week after
Roskomnadzor warned the BBC it would launch an investigation into what
it called the broadcaster's violation of impartiality rules.
Roskomnadzor said on December 21 that the goal of the verification was
to establish whether the content of the BBC operation is consistent with
Russian laws.
Roskomnadzor's statement came a day after British media watchdog Ofcom
said it was considering sanctioning Russia's state-financed RT, saying
it had broken impartiality rules in seven programs earlier this year,
including coverage of the poisoning in Britain of former Russian spy
Sergei Skripal and his daughter.
Britain blames the Russian government for the poisoning of the Skripals
in the city of Salisbury in March. Russia has repeatedly denied evidence
that its agents were behind the poisoning and accused British
intelligence agencies of staging the incident to stoke what they called
"Russophobia."
The Skripals survived the poisoning, in which a Soviet-made military nerve agent known as Novichok was used.
Two other British citizens were exposed to the same nerve agent in June,
apparently by accident; one of them, Dawn Sturgess, died.
The BBC said on December 21 that it worked in full compliance with Russia's laws and regulations to deliver independent news.
A court in Moscow has rejected a libel lawsuit filed by the head of
Russia's National Guard, Viktor Zolotov, against opposition politician
and anticorruption activist Aleksei Navalny.
The Lyublino District Court ruled on December 17 that the lawsuit filed
by Zolotov, who is demanding 1 million rubles ($15,000) from Navalny in
compensation for damaging his honor and dignity, has discrepancies
contradicting Russia's Civic Procedural Code.
The court obliged Zolotov to refile the lawsuit in a proper form, with modified text and content by January 9.
Earlier on December 11, Zolotov’s lawyer, Shota Gorgadze, said his
client wanted a court to rule that Navalny's allegations about Zolotov
being corrupt are not true.
Navalny then described the lawsuit against him as "very funny," citing
Russian media reports that said the Federal Antimonopoly Service had
received a request from the FSB security service to investigate possible
violations in the National Guard's food purchasing program.
In August, Navalny issued a video showing images of luxurious properties
that he claimed were bought by Zolotov and members of his family with
"stolen money."
Zolotov, a former steelworker and longtime security chief for President
Vladimir Putin, released a video in September in which he appeared in
full dress uniform and challenged Navalny to a duel in the fighting form
of his choice, vowing to "make mincemeat" of his opponent.
Navalny in October announced that he accepted Zolotov's challenge and
proposed televised debates in a TV studio as his weapon of choice.
Moscow has welcomed a decision by the organizers of the World Economic
Forum (WEF) to allow the participation of Russian businessmen at the
event, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow on
December 17.
"We welcome the fact that the economic forum in Davos and its chiefs
have accepted our position regarding the fact that a certain selective
attitude to our businessmen is unacceptable," Peskov said.
Peskov's statement came a day after the WEF said Russian billionaires
Oleg Deripaska and Viktor Vekselberg, and the head of the
state-controlled bank VTB Andrei Kostin, would be able to attend the
annual gathering of business and political leaders in the Swiss ski
resort of Davos in January.
In November, Britain's Financial Times newspaper reported that the trio had been barred from attending the Davos gathering.
The decision was made under pressure from Washington, the newspaper said, citing unnamed sources familiar with the issue.
The three tycoons were subjected to U.S. sanctions earlier this year as
Washington seeks to punish Russia for what it calls "malign activities,"
including alleged interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Following the newspaper's report in November, Russia threatened to boycott the meeting in Davos.
The three Russian businessmen are believed to be close to the Russian
President Vladimir Putin and have attended the forum in the past.
A Russian woman pleaded guilty in a United States court on Thursday to a
single conspiracy charge in a deal with prosecutors and admitted to
working with a top Russian official to infiltrate a powerful gun rights
group and make inroads with American conservative activists and the
Republican Party as an agent for Moscow.
Maria Butina, a former graduate student at American University in
Washington who publicly advocated for gun rights, entered the plea at a
hearing in Washington before US District Judge Tanya Chutkan. Butina,
who was jailed after being charged in July and initially pleaded not
guilty, also agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.
Clad in a green jumpsuit with her red hair pulled back in a long braid,
Butina replied "absolutely" when asked by Chutkan if her mind was clear
as she prepared to plead guilty to conspiracy to act as a foreign agent.
Prosecutors dropped one other charge as part of the plea deal.
Butina on Thursday admitted to conspiring to work with a Russian
official and two US citizens as a Russian agent from 2015 until her July
arrest to infiltrate the National Rifle Association (NRA), a group
closely aligned with Republican politicians including Republican
President Donald Trump and US conservatives, and sway Washington's
policy toward Moscow.
Butina represents the first Russian citizen to be convicted of working
to shape US policy in the time period spanning the 2016 election
campaign, though others have been charged in a separate investigation by
Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
The actions Butina acknowledged taking occurred during the same time
period that US intelligence agencies have concluded Russia engaged in a
campaign of propaganda and hacking to sow discord in the United States
during the 2016 presidential race and boost Republican candidate Trump's
chances against Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.
Butina's lawyers previously identified the Russian official as Alexander
Torshin, who was a deputy governor of Russia's central bank and was
targeted with US Treasury Department sanctions in April. One of the two
Americans referenced in the prosecution's criminal complaint was Paul
Erickson, a conservative US political activist who was romantically
linked to Butina.
Although there are no sentencing guidelines for her specific crime, her
lawyer, Robert Driscoll, estimated that under US sentencing guidelines
for similar crimes Butina could face up to six months in prison. Butina
also faces possible deportation to Russia after she finishes her
sentence.
Robert Driscoll, the lawyer for Maria Butina, 30 leaves Federal Court on
December 13, 2018 in Washington, DC. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images/AFP
Robert Driscoll, the lawyer for Maria Butina, leaves court in Washington D.C. on 13 December. Photo: AFP / Getty Images
Because of Butina's ongoing cooperation, the judge did not set a sentencing date but scheduled a status hearing for 12 February.
Leonid Slutsky, head of the lower house of the Russian parliament's
foreign affairs committee, reacted to Butina's case by calling it a
"modern political inquisition," in comments quoted by the RIA news
agency.
In the statement of offence read aloud in court, one of the prosecutors
said Butina drafted a March 2015 "Diplomacy Project" that called for
establishing unofficial back channels of communication between
high-ranking American politicians in order to help advance Russia's
interests.
Erickson's description appears to match "Person One" mentioned in the
statement of offence. Person One helped advise Butina on which American
politicians she should target for meetings, and her plan was carried out
on behalf of the Russian official, the statement said.
'Circumstances were favourable'
"Butina opined that the circumstances were favourable for building
relations with a certain US political party," the statement added, in an
apparent reference to the Republican Party. "Butina predicted that the
candidate nominated by Political Party #1 would likely win the upcoming
US presidential election."
The "Diplomacy Project" document was crafted by Butina with help from
Person 1, prosecutors said. To carry out the plan, Butina requested
US$125,000 from a Russian billionaire to attend conferences and set up
"separate meetings with interested parties" such as other Russian
businessmen or people with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, they
added.
Erickson is a well-known figure in Republican and conservative circles
and was a senior official in Pat Buchanan's 1992 Republican presidential
campaign. Erickson's lawyer William Hurd said in an email, "Paul
Erickson is a good American. He has done nothing to harm our country and
never would."
In April 2015, Butina travelled to the United States to attend a gun
rights event, the description of which appears to match the NRA's annual
meeting, prosecutors said. At that event, she was "introduced to
influential members of Political Party #1," they added.
The prosecutors said Butina invited "powerful members" of the NRA for a
visit to Moscow where they met with high-level Russian officials.
Apparent photos of the NRA Moscow trip are posted on her social media
accounts.
After the visit, according to court records, she sent a Russian official
a message apparently referencing the NRA saying, "We should let them
express their gratitude now, we will put pressure on them quietly
later."
Butina also hosted "friendship dinners" in the hope of establishing ties
with people who "would have the ear of the next US presidential
administration," prosecutors said.
After the 2016 election, she proposed creating a dialogue with Trump's
advisors, but the Russian official told her he did not think the foreign
affairs ministry would "go for it," prosecutors said.
The prosecutors are not from Mueller's office, which is investigating
whether Trump's campaign conspired with Moscow to help him win the 2016
election. Mueller has brought criminal charges against a series of
Russian individuals and entities but those cases are still pending.
Trump has denied any collusion with Moscow. Russia has denied interfering in American politics.
