Tag Archives: Russia

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …