- Kurds Fear the U.S. Will Again Betray Them, in Syria - The New York Times
- Putin Denies Hacking DNC
- Russia's Putin: I have no idea who hacked U.S. Democratic Party - BBG | Reuters
- Vladimir Putin Says DNC Hack Was Public Good, Denies Russia Link - Bloomberg Politics
- Интервью международному информационному холдингу Bloomberg. Часть 4 • Президент России
- Melania Trump Sues British Tabloid Over Claims She Was an Escort
- Melania Trump sues the Daily Mail for $150m over 'lies' about her past | US news | The Guardian
- Trump and Atlantic City: the lessons behind the demise of his casino empire | US news | The Guardian
- Wikileaks documents disclosed by Julian Assange 'often benefit the Kremlin' | Daily Mail Online
- ‘Conspiracy, not journalism’: WikiLeaks blasts NYT story on ‘Russian intel’ behind DNC hack — RT News
- Why there's "nothing to suggest" Russia killed ISIS leader, Abu Mohammed al-Adnani - CBS News
- Infuriating News For Saudi Arabia, Russia Refuses To Play Oil Game
- Rights Group: Situation in Chechnya Continues to Deteriorate
- The only immigration solution - The Washington Post
- Trump doubles down on his illogical, un-American immigration plans - The Washington Post
- Barack Obama is now alone in Washington - The Washington Post
- Does Germany Understand Its Own Strength? - The New York Times
- Latin American left rejects impeachment of Brazil’s Rousseff - The Washington Post
Foreign Policy |
SitRep: New Iran Deal Flap; Russia Talks With Japan, Deploys Troops
Foreign Policy U.S. officials aren't thrilled about a German proposal for new arms control pact with Russia — an idea that France is also supporting. Daniel Baer, the U.S. envoy to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, told Reuters that while ... Chances for US-Russian Cooperation in Syria 'Higher' Than One Could ImagineSputnik International all 3 news articles » |
Uzbek Government Maintains Karimov in 'Critical' Conditionby webdesk@voanews.com (VOA News)
Despite unconfirmed reports of his death, Uzbekistan maintains its president, Islam Karimov, is in critical condition, according to a brief government statement issued Friday. "Dear compatriots," the statement said, "it is with a very heavy heart that we inform you that the health of our President has sharply deteriorated in the past 24 hours, and that doctors judge it to have reached a critical state." Islam Karimov, 78, has ruled the Central Asian nation for more than a quarter of a century. Reuters, citing three diplomatic sources, reported earlier Friday that Karimov has died. Media outlet Fergana is reporting funeral arrangements are underway in Karimov's hometown of Samarkand. Karimov, known for his tight-fisted rule that had little tolerance for opposition, did not designate a successor. If he is dead, the head of Uzbekistan’s Senate would assume power for three months while new elections are arranged. Human Rights Watch has described Uzbekistan's human rights record as "atrocious."
Bloomberg |
Payrolls in U.S. Rise by 151000 in August; Jobless Rate Steady
Bloomberg Companies kept adding to payrolls in August while measures of slack in the labor market were little changed, signaling steady hiring in the face of lackluster global growth. Payrolls climbed by 151,000 last month following a 275,000 gain in July that ... Slower Growth in Jobs Report May Give Fed Pause on Interest RatesNew York Times US Payroll Growth Slowed in August; Jobless Rate Held SteadyWall Street Journal Job market momentum slows with 151000 jobs added in AugustWashington Post USA TODAY -Business Insider -CBS News -NBCNews.com all 131 news articles » |
The bodies of three U.S. citizens killed while fighting Islamic State alongside a Kurdish militia in the Syrian city of Manbij await repatriation, a spokesman for the Kurdish force said.
President Enrique Pena Nieto says Republican candidate Donald Trump’s proposals represent a ‘threat’ to his country, a day after the two men met in the Mexican capital.
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The Daily Mail newspaper has retracted a story about Melania Trump after her lawyers filed a lawsuit in the United States accusing the newspaper and a Maryland blogger of publishing false statements about her alleged involvement with an escort agency.
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Uzbek President Islam Karimov Has Died by Tessa Berenson
Islam Karimov, the president of Uzbekistan, has died, according to the Turkish government.
BBC reports that Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim announced Friday that Karimov had died.
“Uzbek President Islam Karimov has passed away. May God’s mercy be upon him, as the Turkish Republic we are sharing the pain and sorrow of Uzbek people,” the Turkish Prime Minister said in a cabinet meeting broadcast live on Friday.
Three diplomatic sources also confirmed Karimov’s death to Reuters, although the Uzbek government has not confirmed the reports.
Karimov, 78, has not appeared in public since August 17. He has been in the hospital since last Saturday after suffering a stroke, Reuters reports, and the Uzbek government did confirm that he was critically ill.
Karimov has not designated a successor. He has held tight authoritarian rule over the nation, which borders Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, since 1989.
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Technology giant Samsung Electronics says it is suspending the sales of its brand new Galaxy Note 7 smartphones over faulty batteries. Speaking on Friday, Koh Dong-jin, president of Samsung’s mobile business, adds that replacement devices for phones already sold will be made available to customers. The new Galaxy Note 7 was launched two week ago
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New York Times
A police official says at least three rockets landed in eastern Baghdad Friday morning, killing five people and wounding 15. The attack hit as pilgrims descended on the Kadhimiya shrine in Baghdad to commemorate the martyrdom of the ninth Shiite Imam ...
Weapons storage blaze fires off rockets in Baghdad, killing fourReuters
Iraq: Baghdad explosion at Shia militia weapons store kills fourInternational Business Times UK
Arms storage blaze fires off rockets in IraqAl-Arabiya
Metro.us-Rudaw-Aljazeera.com-eNCA
all 26 news articles »
NDTV |
USA TODAY |
Team Clinton raised a staggering $143 million in August
USA TODAY WASHINGTON — Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton raised a whopping $143 million last month for her campaign and the Democratic Party, surging to her strongest performance of the 2016 election. Clinton's campaign and aligned Democratic ... Hillary Clinton Raised $143 Million in August for Democrats and Her CampaignNew York Times Clinton campaign raises $143 million in AugustPolitico Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party just had their best fundraising month yet by farWashington Post Los Angeles Times -The Atlantic -Wall Street Journal (blog) -Washington Times all 48 news articles » |
BuzzFeed News |
Bangladeshi-American Woman Stabbed And Killed In Queens
BuzzFeed News The death comes amid multiple attacks on Bangladeshi-Americans in the New York City area this year. posted on Sept. 1, 2016, at 1:28 p.m.. Talal Ansari. BuzzFeed News Reporter. Tweet. Tumblr. Stumble. Bookmark it ... 60-year-old woman fatally stabbed in Queens; Motive unclearWABC-TV Aunt of NYPD officer stabbed to death while walking in QueensNew York's PIX11 / WPIX-TV Cop's Muslim Aunt Stabbed To Death In Queens, Family Believes Possible Hate CrimeInternational Business Times Gothamist all 34 news articles » |
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Boing Boing |
Melania Trump sues Daily Mail for libel
WMUR Manchester NEW YORK (CNNMoney) —Melania Trump has filed a $150 million lawsuit against The Daily Mail and Tarpley, a U.S.-based blog, claiming that the two outlets made false and defamatory statements about her involvement in an escort service. Related. Melania Trump sues Daily Mail and Maryland bloggerUSA TODAY (blog) Trump's wife files suit against blogger, Daily Mail over 'escort' reportsReuters Melania Trump Sues Over 'Escort' ClaimSky News The Guardian all 13 news articles » |
Fox News |
State Department to release all Clinton schedules before election
Fox News The State Department agreed Thursday to turn over all the planning schedules from Hillary Clinton's time serving as secretary of state to The Associated Press by mid-October in an abrupt reversal from U.S. government lawyers' warning last week that ... Clinton's State Department schedules could go public before Election DayPolitico State Dept. to give AP all Clinton schedules before electionUSA TODAY State Department Agrees to Release Hillary Clinton's Schedules by Oct. 17Wall Street Journal WMUR Manchester-Jezebel-Daily Caller all 45 news articles » |
The Verge |
Samsung will reportedly issue worldwide recall of Galaxy Note 7
The Verge Samsung is preparing to announce a massive and global recall of its brand new Galaxy Note 7 smartphone, according to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency. The Korea Herald also reported earlier that Samsung is "considering" a recall. The drastic and ... Samsung reportedly planning recall for Galaxy Note 7CNET Samsung reportedly gearing up to announce a Galaxy Note 7 recallEngadget Report: Samsung to Issue 'Unprecedented' Recall of Note 7 Amid Explosion FearsGizmodo Bloomberg-Reuters-BetaNews-OregonLive.com all 76 news articles » |
CNN |
Trump adds deputy campaign manager for stretch run
CNN (CNN) Donald Trump's campaign is undergoing more top-level changes, just two weeks after Trump reshuffled his campaign leadership. The Republican nominee hired David Bossie, the president of the conservative political advocacy group Citizens United, ... This Morning from CBS News, Sept. 2, 2016CBS News Donald Trump hires Citizens United head as deputy campaign managerThe Week Magazine Trump enlists veteran operative David Bossie as deputy campaign managerWashington Post TPM -Politico -Media Matters for America -Miami Herald all 37 news articles » |
Reuters |
German man convicted of setting dozens of fires in Los Angeles area
Reuters Harry Burkhart, 24, is detained by the Los Angeles county sheriff's department on suspicion of setting dozens of fires across Los Angeles, in West Hollywood, California, U.S. January 2, 2012. REUTERS/Gene Blevins/File Photo. LOS ANGELES A German ... Jury Convicts Man For Setting Dozens of LA Fires in Anti-America Fit of RagePatch.com German National Convicted in 3-Night Los Angeles Arson SpreeNBC Southern California all 11 news articles » |
Bloomberg |
Putin Pushes for Oil Freeze Deal With OPEC, Exemption for Iran
Bloomberg Vladimir Putin said he'd like OPEC and Russia, producers of half of the world's oil, to reach a deal to freeze supply and expects the dispute over Iran's participation can be resolved. “From the viewpoint of economic sense and logic, then it would be ... and more » |
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Bloomberg |
Putin Blasts Trump and Clinton for 'Shock' Campaign Tactics
Bloomberg Vladimir Putin blasted both Donald Trump's and Hillary Clinton's tactics on the campaign trail but refused to publicly take sides in a U.S. presidential race in which he's been accused of secretly favoring the New York real estate billionaire. “They're ... Putin says all bidders for Bashneft to get equal treatment: Bloom... Reuters Vladimir Putin Urges Oil-Producing Nations to Cap ProductionWall Street Journal Putin on DNC hacking allegations: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯The Verge Voice of America-Daily Mail -Business Insider- Times of India all 99 news articles » |
BRATISLAVA (Reuters) - Britain is committed to European foreign and security cooperation even though it is preparing to leave the European Union, its foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, said on Friday as he arrived for talks with other EU ministers.
The expanding US economy added another 151,000 jobs in August, according to the US Labor Department.
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Melania Trump sues the Daily Mail and a US blogger for $150m (£114m) over allegations she was a sex worker in the 1990s.
Gun Battle Between Ethnic Factions Roils Afghanistan’s Capitalby FAHIM ABED and MUJIB MASHAL
Carrying the coffin of Habibullah Kalakani, who briefly seized the Afghan throne in 1929, during a reburial ceremony at the Eid Gah Mosque in Kabul.
ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish authorities have removed about 8,000 security personnel from duty, the government's official gazette said on Friday, the latest purge of people suspected of having links to those behind a failed coup in July.
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - At least four suicide bombers attacked a Christian neighborhood in northwestern Pakistan early on Friday morning, the military said.
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Widely derided after a report that he plagiarized nearly a third of his university law thesis, President Enrique Pena Nieto conceded on Thursday that he may have made a "methodological error".
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MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said he hoped for an agreement on an oil output freeze and it would be the right decision for the global oil market, Russian news agencies reported on Friday, quoting an interview Putin gave to Bloomberg.
ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey has swept Islamic State and the Kurdish YPG militia from an area of northern Syria, but Syrian Kurdish forces have still not met a Turkish demand to withdraw to the east of the Euphrates river, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said he did not know who was behind cyber attacks on the U.S. Democratic National Committee, Bloomberg news agency quoted him as saying in an interview on Friday.
ALMATY (Reuters) - Uzbekistan's president, Islam Karimov, has died after suffering a stroke at the age of 78, three diplomatic sources told Reuters on Friday.
GAZIANTEP, Turkey (Reuters) - As U.S.-led coalition jets from a Turkish air base began to pound Islamic State targets in Syria in the summer of 2015, Ilhami Bali passed on what appeared to be an order from the militant group's leadership in Raqqa: unleash war on Turkey.
МOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are unlikely to advance significantly in talks over resolving the Kurile islands dispute at their meeting on Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
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SANAA (Reuters) - The leader of Yemen's Iran-allied Houthi faction accused the United States of providing logistical support and political cover for Saudi-led air strikes in the 18-month Yemeni conflict.
MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Mexico's president said that Donald Trump's proposals represent a threat to the future of his country and that he agreed to a widely criticized meeting with the Republican candidate to open a space for dialogue....
РИА Новости |
Янукович даст показания по делу о Майдане
РИА Новости КИЕВ, 2 сен — РИА Новости. Бывший президент Украины Виктор Янукович даст показания по делу о беспорядках в Киеве в 2013–2014 годах, сообщил в пятницу адвокат экс-главы государства Виталий Сердюк в эфире телеканала "112 Украина". Ранее адвокат Януковича Виталий ... Янукович даст показания по делу о беспорядках в КиевеВзгляд Янукович пожаловался киевской полиции на мелкое хулиганство генпрокурораМосковский комсомолец Янукович пожаловался в украинскую полицию на генпрокурора ЛуценкоТАСС Вести.Ru -Федеральное агентство новостей No.1 -Телеканал ДОЖДЬ (Регистрация) -Mail.Ru Все похожие статьи: 65 » |
US Sanctions More Russian Individuals, Firms Over Ukraineby webdesk@voanews.com (Isabela Cocoli)
The United States on Thursday announced additional sanctions aimed at Russia over its continuing support for Ukraine's rebels and the 2014 annexation of Crimea. The Treasury Department said in a statement that it had designated 37 new individuals and companies operating in Crimea and Ukraine for the sanctions list. "Russia continues to provoke instability in eastern Ukraine despite its Minsk commitments," said John Smith, acting director of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, in charge of levying sanctions. "Treasury stands with our partners in condemning Russia's violation of international law, and we will continue to sanction those who threaten Ukraine's peace, security and sovereignty," he said. According to the Treasury, the move followed the recent extension of European Union economic sanctions, and that together these steps demonstrated "continued international unity in opposing Russia's actions in Ukraine." Russian companies, including construction firms PJSC Mostotrest and SGM-Most, were added to the U.S. list for their assistance in construction of a bridge from Russia to the Crimean Peninsula. Russian engineering firm OMZ OAO was sanctioned for its connections to Gazprombank, which was itself sanctioned in 2014. Several subsidiaries of Russian gas giant Gazprom were also added to the sanctions list. Newly listed was CJSC ABR Management, an asset management firm closely linked to already-sanctioned Rossiya Bank, often called the personal bank of President Vladimir Putin and members of his closest circle. Six officials of the self-proclaimed pro-Russian Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic in eastern Ukraine were entered into Treasury's list as well. The U.S. also sanctioned 11 Crimean officials, including top ministers. Russian officials have said in the past that sanctions levied over its actions in Ukraine have undermined efforts to resolve the conflict.
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Putin Denies Hacking DNCby webdesk@voanews.com (VOA News)
Russian President Vladimir Putin maintained in an interview with media outlet Bloomberg that Russia had nothing to doing with the hacking of the U.S. Democratic National Committee. Thousands of the DNC's emails and documents were hacked earlier this year, revealing that the DNC gave preferential treatment to Hillary Clinton over her Democratic rival Bernie Sanders. Both were vying to become the party's presidential candidate. "Listen, does it even matter who hacked this data," Putin said in the interview conducted in the Pacific port city of Vladivostok. "The important thing is the content that was given to the public." In the wake of the release of the data, DNC chairman and U.S. lawmaker Debbie Wasserman Schultz stepped down from her DNC responsibilities. "I don't know anything about it," Putin said, adding "and on a state level Russia has never done this." Putin also denied in the Bloomberg interview allegations the hack was an attempt by Russia to influence the outcome of the upcoming U.S. presidential election. Putin beat back that accusation, saying that move would require a subtle understanding of American politics. "To do that you need to have a finger on the pulse and get the specifics of the domestic political life of the U.S.," he said. "I'm not sure that even our Foreign Ministry experts are sensitive enough." The Russian president's interview with Bloomberg came just two days before world leaders, including Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama, arrive in China for the Group of 20 meeting. In late July, the website Wikileaks published a collection of nearly 20,000 emails obtained from the DNC. Wikileaks did not reveal its source, though a hacker who goes by the name of Guccifer 2.0 claimed responsibility for the attack. Members of the Democratic Party and members of the U.S. intelligence community have repeatedly accused Russian intelligence services as being behind the hack.
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The Briefing: Putin Vs. Putin by Brian Whitmore
The emperor is at war with his inner godfather. The autocrat is battling his inner kleptocrat. The commissar is struggling with his inner crime kingpin.
The most consequential political battle in Russia today is not another skirmish among the Kremlin clans; it’s not a showdown between the siloviki and the technocrats; and it’s not a standoff between the regime and the opposition.
No, the battle defining Russia’s next political season is one that appears to be going on between Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Putin.
As the Kremlin leader culls his inner circle, purges the elite, and tries to enforce some limits on the massive graft that pervades Russian politics, he’s also fighting with himself.
And that is because Putin is something of a hybrid.
As veteran Russia-watcher James Sherr has noted, genealogically Putin is a product of the KGB, but sociologically he is a product of the Darwinian chaos and gangster capitalism that marked Russia’s first post-Soviet decade.
Putin’s political DNA may have been formed in Lubyanka, in Yury Andropov’s KGB, where order, hierarchy, discipline, and Soviet great-power ideology were paramount.
But his political socialization took place as vice mayor of St. Petersburg in the 1990s, where, as Karen Dawisha notes in her book Putin’s Kleptocracy, one of his key roles was acting as a liaison between the political and criminal authorities.
It was the Wild Wild East, a world where duplicity was the norm, rules are for sissies, and only might makes right. It was a world where informal networks ruled and you controlled people by corrupting them.
It was a world where only the strong survived. And Putin not only survived, he thrived.
And when he became president, Putin took both of these formative experiences with him to the Kremlin and fused them. He formed a hybrid state: one that acted like a crime syndicate but also ruthlessly consolidated political power and pursued Putin’s great-power ambitions.
“This regime’s unique long-term vitality was due to the fact that, in place of institutions, power resided in informal and often semicriminal networks,” political analyst Vladimir Pastukhov wrote recently in Slon.ru.
“Putin was both the head of state and the leader of this formally nonexistent — but very powerful and vast — organization…Putin’s unique versatility, his ability to be both the prince of light and the prince of darkness, to a large extent explains the success of his long reign.”
It was successful because Putin deftly managed the informal power structures by playing clans off against each other.
It was successful because he skilfully used corruption as a carrot and stick to control the ruling elite and keep it loyal.
It was successful because in times of expanding resources due to high oil prices, there was enough money to go around.
But most importantly, it was successful because it reflected and reinforced deep-seated norms in Russian political culture.
It exploited what political scientist Alena Ledeneva, author of the book Can Russia Modernize, calls“sistema,” the immense web of illicit networks that have long dominated Russian political life.
For much of his rule, Putin was able to enrich his cronies, revive Russia’s power, and raise living standards.
But as oil prices dipped, the economy slid, and living standards fell, the system came under pressure.
And as Russia’s confrontation with the West intensified, the ideological Putin, the one whose main priority is to restore Russia’s superpower status, began to eclipse the kleptocratic Putin.
Lubyanka began to trump St. Petersburg.
This is the context for the dismissals of longtime Putin cronies like former Russian Railways chief Vladimir Yakunin, former Federal Antinarcotics Service chief Viktor Ivanov, and former Kremlin chief of staff Sergei Ivanov.
This is the context for Putin’s efforts to get the elites to repatriate their offshore assets.
And this is the context for the less-bogus-than-usual campaign against corruption.
“Putin is driven now not by personal economic interest but an ideological program — a vision of a nation restored to its due place in history and the world (and, by extension, a vision of his appropriate legacy),” Mark Galeotti, a senior research fellow at the Institute of International Relations in Prague and a visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, wrote late last year.
“He has surrounded himself with a small coterie of like-minded cohorts — or at least figures willing and able to play that role — and they are ultimately in charge.”
And by sidelining ambitious heavyweights in his court like Yakunin and Ivanov, he is also removing potential challengers to his rule.
As Moscow-based political analyst Nikolai Petrov wrote recently in Vedomosti, Putin is trying to move away from the collective leadership model reminiscent of Leonid Brezhnev and toward one centered on a single leader, as under Josef Stalin.
But in the process, he is fighting “sistema,” he is fighting the system he built, and he is fighting himself.
“Corruption remains today, in the absence of ideology, the only effective binding element of the Russian world, its saving ether. And Putin, like no other to date, skillfully used the corruption in order to strengthen his personal power,” Pastukhov wrote.
“Now, in the same interests, he believes he needs to start fighting corruption, violating the social contract with the old elites.”
NOTE TO READERS: Be sure to tune in to this week’s Power Vertical Podcast later on September 2, when I will discuss the issues raised in this post with Moscow-based political analyst Nikolai Petrov and Sean Guillory of the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Russian and Eastern European Studies.
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Ukraine Day 928: LIVE UPDATES BELOW.
Yesterday’s live coverage of the Ukraine conflict can be found here.
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On the eve of the Olympic Games in Rio, Brazil is embroiled in its deepest political and economic crisis in decades. The countries elites are ensnared in scandal and President Dilma Rousseff is facing possible impeachment.
After agreeing to help the European Union control the flow of migrants heading north, the Turkish government now feels empowered to use the deal as leverage. Europe must now find an alternative to its agreement with Ankara, lest it subject itself to blackmail.
During his campaign, Donald Trump has repeatedly flirted with violence. Crude political notions aside, he lacks the character to become president of the United States and represents a true danger to the entire world.
Donald Trump's candidacy started as a joke. Fed by the media and opportunistic politicians, he's become a threat to the US political system and even world peace. Now it's time to treat him as such.
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In an interview, Paul Wolfowitz, 72, an advisor to former President Bush, discusses the dangers of a Donald Trump presidency, why he will likely vote for the Democrat's candidate this year and mistakes made during the Iraq war.Bloomberg |
Putin Says Russia and U.S. Close to Breakthrough Deal on Syria
Bloomberg The U.S. and Russia are intensifying efforts to find common ground in Syria, where multiple countries and multiple extremist and rebel groups have been battling each other for 5 1/2 years.Russia entered the conflict last year on behalf of Assad ... 'Window Closing' on U.S.-Russia Deal on SyriaU.S. News & World Report all 209 news articles » |
Most of the world’s countries have signed a treaty banning the munitions, but not the United States and Russia, where many such bombs were made.
The most important battle going on in Russia today is one between Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Putin.
A group of women who blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for the Beslan school massacre have been sentenced to either community service or fined.
Uzbekistan's cabinet says President Islam Karimov is in critical condition after having a stroke, while Reuters quotes three unnamed diplomatic sources as saying that Karimov has died.
