Russian Warships Are Heading for Syria
Just as United Nations Special Envoy Kofi Annan calls it quits, world powers are beginning to assert themselves more forcefully in Syria.
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President Obama defended the administration's decision to "ramp up" their support to Syrian rebel forces by, among other things, providing some lethal aid, during a sprawling interview with Charlie Rose that aired late Monday night on PBS.
Just as United Nations Special Envoy Kofi Annan calls it quits, world powers are beginning to assert themselves more forcefully in Syria.
Only one thing is certain in Syria following the resignation of U.N. special envoy Kofi Annan: It will be impossible to find a more seasoned diplomat to fix the mess it's in.
In today's tour of state-sponsored propaganda, an Iranian truck driver gets her close up, a stamp dealer explains how he became an accidental propagandist for North Korea and Russia Today panders to a key Kremlin ally.
The trial of Russian punk pranksters Pussy Riot promises to give them ample time in the international spotlight, making their original pantomime protest against church-state ties wildly successful.
In one of the more disconcerting things you'll hear today concerning Russian spies, it appears that "Sexy Spy" Anna Chapman and the network of Russian sleeper agents known as The Illegals she belonged to, were thinking long-term and actually recruiting their members' children.
Syria's public position is that it won't use its chemical weapons unless some outside state attacks it, but a Reuters Insight piece on Tuesday included the scary detail that the regime there was close to using them on rebels two weeks ago, but Russia stopped it.
At this point, it's not really clear that U.N. sanctions against Bashar al-Assad's regime would do anything to quell the violence in Syria, but we'll never find out since Russia and China vetoed the latest Security Council resolution today, the third time they've done so in the 16-month conflict.
Vladimir Putin is a well-documented badass, and badasses don't show up on time to work meetings when they could be drinking with their biker buddies instead.
In today's tour of state-sponsored propaganda: Iran gets whimsical about its navy, China disses Hillary, and Russia slashes its propaganda outlets.
China has finally decided to support Kofi Annan's efforts in Syria, now that he's calling for action the United States doesn't like—mainly because it may involve Iran.
Wikipedia found success with its 24-hour blackout in January to protest U.S. anti-piracy legislation, so it's trying the same technique in Russia where a bill promoted as a curb on child pornography threatens to create an Internet blacklist.
A summary of the best reads found behind the paywall of The New York Times.
A summary of the best reads found behind the paywall of The New York Times.
Did you know that Salekhard, Russia—a tundra-locked industrial town in the country's extreme north—is fast becoming the center of the economic universe? At least according to one very technical measure provided by McKinsey & Company.
It's the biggest diplomatic event of the week and it's going to be awkward.
Russia does not sound like a very fun place to be a journalist, what with the tradition of unsolved violence against the press, so when the country's top investigator threatens you and says he'll lead the investigation into your death, skipping town makes sense.
The conflict in Syria isn't officially labeled a civil war but the denomination gained new validity in the last 24 hours following a series of developments on the ground including land grabs and weapons buildups.
Raising fines for unauthorized protesting, raiding homes of activists, and calling leaders in for questioning--none of these actions helped Vladimir Putin stop out the thousands of anti-Putin protesters who showed up on a national holiday Tuesday to tell Putin how he stole this year's election.
In May, The Washington Post dismissed the conspiracy theories that President Obama has made a secret deal with Vladimir Putin after a hot mic moment with then-President Dimitry Medvedev as "another example of how facts no longer matter when it comes to politically sexy allegations." But that hasn't fazed Rep. Mike Turner, a Republican on the House Armed Services Committee.
Attacks on journalists are, unfortunately, not terribly uncommon in Russia, so it's weird that a radio presenter recently embroiled in controversy would comply with an anonymous midnight text asking him to come outside, where he was stabbed 20 times.
The massacre in Houla is starting to seem like it could be the final straw in Syria, as international pressures are mounting and everyone seems to be running out of patience with Bashar al-Assad's regime.
Debris from the Russian "demonstration" plane that disappeared over Indonesia yesterday has been found on the side of a mountain, where it apparently crashed in heavy fog.
There's some troubling news coming from Indonesia this morning where a Russian airliner, the Sukhoi Superjet 100, carrying 44 people has disappeared off the radar during a demo flight near Jakarta.
Russian President Vladimir Putin isn't wasting any time capitalizing on his electoral victory.
Here's something to think about: Vladimir Putin was sworn into office today, and if the Russian President completes his six-year term, he'll be Russia's longest-serving leader since Joseph Stalin.
Between 20,000 and 100,000 people, depending on the report, clashed with police in Moscow on Sunday to protest Vladimir Putin's upcoming presidential inauguration.
If it wasn't the 26th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, perhaps the clouds enveloping Moscow would not feel so ominous.
The New York Times on Frozen Planet, The Daily Beast on climate change, The Guardian on the 2012 Olympics, The Washington Post on fish labels, and the BBC on a white orca
The Associated Press on soldiers in the melting Arctic, The Texas Tribune on uranium mining, Christian Science Monitor on solar panels in Germany, The Washington Post on saving the seahorse, and The Guardian on the drought in England
The New York Times on the U.S.'s energy boom and the fate of nuclear energy, The Guardian on bees, AccuWeather on icebergs, and the Associated Press on seals
While the U.S. housing market continues to struggle, there is one bright spot for those who sell apartments: Russians are investing plenty of money in high-end real estate, especially in New York City.
Twelve people have survived the crash of a Russian passenger plane that killed 31 others in Siberia on Monday.
Karl Rove wasn't mad when Dmitry Medvedev scoffed that Mitt Romney's claim that Russia was our "No. 1 geopolitical foe," sounded like a 1970s Hollywood movie -- he was inspired.
Mitt Romney has lots of great selling points -- his business experience, his success as Massachusetts Governor -- but there's one thing President Obama very clearly has on him: foreign policy experience.
Dmitry Medvedev has some election advice for Mitt Romney and the rest of the Republican field. They should "check their watches from time to time: It is 2012, not the mid-1970s."
Calling Russia our "number one geopolitical foe" in a CNN interview Monday, Mitt Romney rather unproductively distracted everyone from focusing on the critique he was making of President Obama.
It was supposed to be a two-day summit about keeping nukes away from terrorists, instead North Korea's temper tantrum is spoiling President Obama's plans.
If you trust the world's state-run media, Hugo Chaz is invincible, anti-Putin demonstrators are phonies and Kim Jong-Un's enemies will "find no breathing spell in this land and sky." Today's installment of Propaganda Parade begins in Venezuela...
From Cuba's dazzling technological achievements to Russia's "gay propaganda" problem to China's obsession with female flight attendants, today's Propaganda Parade begins in the Caribbean.
While the U.N. ups its casualty count yesterday in the Syrian conflict to 8,000, we learn today of more gruesome ways Bashar al-Assad is targeting fleeing refugees.
It's been a big week of news for Russia, Iran, and Syria, which means their propaganda mills have been working overtime.
It's becoming difficult to keep track of the many complaints of election fraud following Vladimir Putin's overwhelming victory on Sunday in Russia's presidential election.
If you're rigging an election, you might not want to create a 107 percent turnout in Chechnya with Vladimir Putin receiving 99 percent of the vote, but at this point, Russian election officials don't seem to care.
Complaints about fraud and voting irregularities are growing following Vladimir Putin's re-election, but it remains to be seen if protests or demonstrations will have any impact the results or the future of Russia.
Exit polling indicates that Vladimir Putin has prevailed in the Russian presidential election -- and things could get ugly.
From Cubans hawking cigar products to Egypt's corrupting state media to the vaunted penmanship of North Korea's "dear respected leader," today's propaganda report keeps you informed on the latest in state-sponsored agitprop. We begin in Iran!
The entire United Nations Security Council is doing something about the increasingly horrific situation in Syria.
Fresh documents released by WikiLeaks raise new questions about the five-day war between Russia and Georgia in 2008. In particular, the role of Israel and its involvement in providing military intelligence to Russia in the run-up to war.
Russian and Ukranian intelligence officials claim that two men arrested earlier this month were planning a series of terrorist attacks on Moscow, including one meant to target Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Though reports of the 130,000-strong pro-Putin rally in a Moscow soccer stadium today make it sound like the once-and-future president has the support of all of Russia, the fact tht many of the attendees were coerced into attending suggests otherwise.
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