Tag Archives: Russia

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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. …

J. Lester Feder reports at Buzzfeed: The US State Department has called on Russia to investigate reports that more than 100 LGBT people have recently been detained, tortured, or murdered in the region of Chechnya. “We urge the Russian government to conduct an independent and credible investigation into the alleged killings and mass arrests, and hold the perpetrators responsible,” a …

The Hill reports: Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley tore into Russia on Wednesday over Bashar al-Assad’s suspected use of chemical weapons against the Syrian people the day before, as the U.N. Security Council took up a resolution condemning the attack. “Russia has shielded Assad from U.N. sanctions. If Russia has the influence in Syria that it claims it …

The Moscow Times reports: Russia has banned an image showing Vladimir Putin in heavy makeup. In the photograph, Putin has red lips and painted eyelashes, and a suggestive caption reads, “They say there are many of them, but there aren’t any among the people I know.” Last week, the Justice Ministry formally added the image described above to its ever-expanding …

Via Mediaite: Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois condemned the United States government’s lack of action in response to the Syrian government’s alleged use of chemical weapons. Near the end of the interview, anchor Alisyn Camerota played a clip from 7-year-old Syrian refugee Bana Alabed, who called for an end to the war so, “the children of Syria [can] play and …

House Intelligence Committee member Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) spun a lot of heads around on social media late this afternoon when he flatly told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that he’s pretty sure some Trump associates will go to prison over their ties to Russia. BLITZER: You want to elaborate on that give us more? Because that is obviously a very intriguing …

NBC News reports: Former National Security Adviser Susan Rice on Tuesday denied that she sought to improperly “unmask” Trump campaign officials whose conversations were caught on surveillance by U.S. intelligence services. “The allegation is that somehow the Obama administration officials utilized intelligence for political purposes, ” Rice said in an exclusive interview with NBC’s Andrea Mitchell. “That’s absolutely false.” Rice …

Al Jazeera reports: At least 58 people, including nine children, were killed in an air raid that released “toxic gas” on the rebel-held Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun on Tuesday, a monitor said. The attack caused many people to choke or faint, and some had foam coming from their mouths, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, citing medical …

Posted this morning by Human Rights Watch: The information published by Novaya Gazeta is consistent with the reports Human Rights Watch recently received from numerous trusted sources, including sources on the ground. The number of sources and the consistency of the stories leaves us with no doubt that these devastating developments have indeed occurred. LGBT Network in Russia opened a …

Whoa. The Washington Post reports: The United Arab Emirates arranged a secret meeting in January between Blackwater founder Erik Prince and a Russian close to President Vladi­mir Putin as part of an apparent effort to establish a back-channel line of communication between Moscow and President-elect Donald Trump, according to U.S., European and Arab officials. The meeting took place around Jan. …

Newsweek reports: Russian authorities have pledged to investigate reported mass disappearances and deaths of gay locals in the region of Chechnya, after the regional government dismissed allegations made in Novaya Gazeta on Saturday, saying “you cannot detain… what simply does not exist.” According to the Russian investigative newspaper, authorities in the conservative and predominantly Muslim Chechen Republic have detained over …

The Independent reports: At least 10 people are believed to have died after two explosions on the Saint Petersburg subway. Pictures posted on social media show the door of a Metro train has been blown out in an explosion, which is reported to have involved shrapnel-filled devices. Other images showed passengers lying on the ground of a station platform. A …