Tag Archives: Russia

MOSCOW: Tillerson Meets Putin At The Kremlin

The New York Times reports: After Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson waited for much of the day, wondering whether he would get to meet with President Vladimir V. Putin, the two men sat down at the Kremlin late Wednesday afternoon in the first face-to-face meeting between the Russian leader and a top official in the Trump administration. Relations between …

Read More »

AP Confirms “Black Ledger” Line Item Noting $1.2M Payment To Paul Manafort By Pro-Russia Ukrainians

The Associated Press reports: Last August, a handwritten ledger surfaced in Ukraine with dollar amounts and dates next to the name of Paul Manafort, who was then Donald Trump’s campaign chairman. Ukrainian investigators called it evidence of off-the-books payments from a pro-Russian political party — and part of a larger pattern of corruption under the country’s former president. Manafort, who …

Read More »

REPORT: FBI Obtained Secret Court Order To Monitor Trump Advisor Carter Page As Possible Agent Of Russia

The Washington Post reports: The FBI obtained a secret court order last summer to monitor the communications of an adviser to presidential candidate Donald Trump, part of an investigation into possible links between Russia and the campaign, law enforcement and other U.S. officials said. The FBI and the Justice Department obtained the warrant targeting Carter Page’s communications after convincing a …

Read More »

LIVE VIDEO: Sean Spicer Holds White House Press Briefing, Likely To Address North Korean Nuclear Threat

AOL News reports: White House press secretary Sean Spicer is set to address the press corps on Tuesday in a foreign policy-focused week for the Trump administration. From Tillerson’s trip to Moscow to North Korea’s threat aimed at America in response to warships in the Korean Peninsula, this week is shaping up to be a pivotal one for President Trump, …

Read More »

GLAAD Calls On UN Ambassador Nikki Haley To Condemn Chechen “Concentration Camps” For Gay Men

Via press release: Today, GLAAD – the world’s LGBTQ media advocacy organization, called on Nikki Haley, United States Ambassador to the United Nations, to condemn the attacks on LGBTQ men by the Chechen government and investigate reports of possible imprisonment of LGBTQ people in concentration camps because of their perceived sexual orientation. GLAAD’s call to action follows reports which surfaced …

Read More »

Eric Trump: Ivanka Pushed My Father Into Strike On Syria, Which Also Proves He Isn’t Colluding With Russia

The Telegraph reports: Donald Trump’s decision to launch a cruise missile attack on Syria proved he is not in league with Russia and will not be “pushed around” by Vladimir Putin, the US President’s son has told The Daily Telegraph. Eric Trump said his father was not intimidated by President Putin’s talk of war, and there would be “no-one harder” …

Read More »

Russia-Owned Blogging Platform LiveJournal Changes Terms Of Service To Ban Pro-LGBT Discussions

Gizmodo reports: LiveJournal, a blog community that’s hosted a lot of science fiction authors and fans (including George RR Martin), has officially banned “political solicitation”— which can mean anything that criticizes the Russian government, as well as pro-LGBTQ discussions. There are also concerns users can be subject to Russian spying. The service grew in popularity as a social network in …

Read More »

RUSSIA: LGBT Fugitives Tell Of Two Secret Chechen Prisons As More Details Of Crackdown Emerge

Crime Russia reports: The LGBT people who fled from repressions in Chechnya said there are two secret prisons for illegal detentions of offenders, as well as drug addicts and LGBT people who the Chechen government see as an issue, according to the Svoboda ratio station. The raid began in December of 2016, not February of 2017 as earlier reported, according …

Read More »

Nikki Haley Calls For Regime Change In Syria, Russia Blasts Her “Direct Sabotage” Of Peace Efforts [VIDEO]

CNN reports: The US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, has told CNN that removing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power is a priority, cementing an extraordinary U-turn in the Trump administration’s stance on the embattled leader. Two days after the US launched military strikes on a Syrian airbase in response to a chemical weapons attack widely blamed on …

Read More »

Colbert: So Here’s Putin As A Gay Clown [VIDEO]

Earlier this week Russia’s Ministry of Justice announced that it has banned an image of Vladimir Putin in heavy makeup, although they did not specify which of the countless such memes is the banned one. Some media outlets have characterized the move as banning the depiction of Putin as a “gay clown” – setting up last night’s bit from Stephen …

Read More »

State Department Calls On Russia To Denounce And Stop Murders and Torture Of Gay Men By Chechen Police After Reports Of Detentions In “Secret Prison”

Yesterday the State Department called on Russia to investigate reports that Chechen police are rounding up and murdering gay men. Tonight the State Department has issued a second statement: We are increasingly concerned about the situation in the Republic of Chechnya, where there have been numerous credible reports indicating the detention of at least 100 men on the basis of …

Read More »

Russia Deploys Cruise Missile-Equipped Warship Towards The Two US Destroyers Which Struck At Syria

Newsweek reports: Russia deployed its most advanced Black Sea frigate Friday into the eastern Mediterranean, where U.S. Navy destroyers had launched an airstrike earlier that day against the Moscow-backed Syrian military. As Russian leadership condemned the U.S.’ first intentional attack on the military of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since the country’s six-year conflict began, Russia’s Admiral Grigorovich frigate reportedly left …

Read More »

Russian PM Warns Of “Military Clash” With United States

The Hill reports: Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Friday condemned President Trump’s missile strike in Syria, saying it puts Moscow and the U.S. “on the verge of a military clash.” “This military action is a clear indication of the US President’s extreme dependency on the opinion of the Washington establishment, the one that the new president strongly criticized in …

Read More »

New York Times: Jared Kushner Failed To Reveal Russian Ties On Top Security Clearance Questionnaire

The New York Times reports: When Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, sought the top-secret security clearance that would give him access to some of the nation’s most closely guarded secrets, he was required to disclose all encounters with foreign government officials over the last seven years. But Mr. Kushner did not mention dozens of contacts with foreign …

Read More »

Russia Calls For Emergency UN Security Council Meeting Over Trump’s “Thoughtless” Strike On Syria

Reuters reports: Russia wants an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council to discuss U.S. missile strikes on Syria, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday, describing the action as “thoughtless”. The ministry said in a statement that Russia was also suspending a Syrian air safety agreement with the United States, saying: “This is not the first time the United …

Read More »

BREAKING: Trump Announces US Strike On Syria, Dozens Of Cruise Missiles Hit Airfield [VIDEO]

NBC News reports: The United States launched dozens of cruise missiles Thursday night at a Syrian airfield in response to what it believes was Syria’s use of banned chemical weapons that killed at least 100 people, U.S. military officials told NBC News. Two U.S. warships in the Mediterranean Sea fired 59 Tomahawk missiles intended for a single target — Ash …

Read More »

REPORT: Trump Is Mulling Military Strike On Syria

CNN reports: President Donald Trump has told some members of Congress that he is considering military action in Syria in retaliation for this week’s chemical attack, and recognizes the seriousness of the situation, a source familiar with the calls tells CNN. The source said the President had not firmly decided to go ahead with it but said he was discussing …

Read More »

Kremlin: Our Support For Assad Isn’t Unconditional

The Associated Press reports: The spokesman for President Vladimir Putin tells The Associated Press that Russia’s support for Syrian President Bashar Assad is not unconditional. Thursday’s statement from Dmitry Peskov comes several days after a suspected chemical weapons attack on a rebel-held province in Syria. Moscow, Assad’s key backer, has supported the Syrian government militarily since 2015. Turkey said on …

Read More »

BREAKING: Rep. Devin Nunes Steps Down From House Trump/Russia Probe After Claims Of Ethics Violations

ABC News reports: After a number of ethics complaints, Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., announced today that he is stepping aside from leading the House Intelligence Committee’s probe into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election. “Several left-wing activist groups have filed accusations against me with the Office of Congressional Ethics. The charges are entirely false and politically motivated, and are …

Read More »

Ex-Breitbart Writer Joins Russian Propaganda Outlet

The Hill reports: A former Breitbart News reporter who quit the alt-right publication in protest plans to launch a radio show for Sputnik, a Russian propaganda network. “I’m on the Russian payroll now, when you work at Sputnik you’re being paid by the Russians,” Lee Stranahan, who served as a Breitbart investigative reporter, told The Atlantic. “That’s what it is. …

Read More »