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Tag: Russia

  • Bloodhound Gang: To Russia with hate?

    Bloodhound Gang: To Russia with hate?

    What is the best way to lose friends, not influence people, and be hated and reviled in return? Disrespect their family, their heritage, their country and their flag.

    And this is exactly what the rock band Bloodhound Gang did in spades when they desecrated the Ukrainian and Russian flags at concerts in Kiev and Odessa during the months of July and August this year.

    As if the problems involving Syria, the Middle-East, nuclear arms control, struggle for oil and gas in Central-Asia, State Department involvement in Russian democratic process, is not enough to throw Russo-American relations into the gutter, along comes band member Jared Hasselhoff with his antics involving the Russian flag.

    What is so offensive that Jared did with the flag in the storied Slavic city of Odessa? Pissing on the flag, and then a few days later at another concert, pushing the flag into the front of his pants and pulling it out of the back! How cool is that?

    Imagine some Russian or Ukrainian rock or pop band comes to America at the invitation of American fans and starts pissing, stomping and wiping the buttocks with the Star-Spangled Banner! Not cool at all. We would be raving mad, leave the concert immediately, and even do some pretty nasty things to those responsible for disrespecting our great nation.

    Bloodhound Gang, which gained notoriety for their outrageous music videos including Along Comes Mary and The Bad Touch have now been named as suspects in a criminal case in Russia for “inciting hatred in an organized group,” a charge that carries a maximum sentence of five years.

    Matters have gotten so out of hand, that last month Ukrainian Premier condemned Bloodhound Gang’s actions and sought a lifetime ban against the group ever entering or performing on Ukrainian soil.

    US ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul also condemned the band’s actions to assuage Russian feelings and minimize any backlash. The question we have to ask is, what prompted Bloodhound Gang to do what it did?

    Is it about time for them to get some psychological counseling?

    [images via twitter]

  • Syria Turn Over Weapons Promise Sways Obama

    While expressing skepticism about promises from the Syrian regime to turn over chemical weapons, during a Monday night NBC News interview, later that evening
 President Barack Obama leaned toward the proposal in the face of public opposition and wavering congressional support. This during an interview with Fox News’ Chris Wallace, saying, “We will pursue this diplomatic track.”

    The proposal—generally that Damascus might be reprieved from military action if it were to hand over chemical weapons to international inspectors—was delivered Monday morning by Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov. It was followed by a statement from Syrian foreign minister Walid al-Moualem, reportedly reading, “I announce that the Arab republic of Syria welcomes the Russian initiative.”

    Obama had originally voiced skepticism over the plan, which Damascus is welcoming in public, saying, “I think you have to take it with a grain of salt initially.” The President seemed inclined to learn from history, stating, “this is not how we have seen them operate over the last couple of years.”

    Syrian President Bashar al-Asad continues to issue denials that his regime conducted the chemical weapons attacks in August, one of the latest being to Charlie Rose in an interview, also airing Monday night.

    Voting on the issue in Congress, originally slated for Wednesday, has now been postponed. The President indicated the vote would not be rescheduled in the near future, while this more diplomatic route is being pursued.

    According to some, the Russian-initiated proposal stemmed from an offhand remark by Secretary of State John Kerry. In London, Kerry said that US strikes on Syria could be avoided if they would immediately surrender their supply of chemical weapons. Kerry further stated his belief that Damascus would do no such thing, but Moscow turned around an offer to broker the proposal.

    Obama took some amount of credit for the development, stating, “I have to say that it’s unlikely we would’ve arrived at that point without a credible military threat to deal with the chemical weapons inside of Syria.” Repeating earlier interview assertions that his administration would, “run this to ground.”

    The idea is also backed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon as well as several Washington politicians and pundits, including former secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton, who called it, “an important step,” if Syria followed-through.

    [Images via Fox News Facebook and Charlie Rose Show Facebook.]

  • G20 Summit: Syria, World Economy Discussed

    The Group of 20, a group of countries developed and emerging whose populations comprise two out of three people on Earth, saw their world leaders gather in St. Petersburg over the last two days. First coming together in 2009 to counter the economic crisis, the G20’s fifth anniversary will see a variety of geopolitical issues discussed, beginning with Syria.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin opened the ceremony with a lukewarm message highlighting his focuses for the meeting: “As this summit is shadowed by U.S. desires [to launch] airstrikes on Syria… the G20 is here celebrating it’s fifth anniversary… We were able to consolidate the main world economies together, we were able to limit the consequences of the world economic crisis, and we were able to [try and avoid] future crises [by building] a firewall against them… the G20 has shown that it can [get serious problems under control]… but in my opinion, we cannot rest on our laurels, because the global economy needs to find stable economic growth, and this has not yet been achieved.”

    A BBC article acknowledged that the situation surrounding Syria is not on the agenda; however, Putin’s hopes are that it will be informally discussed during the working dinner. Regarding Russia’s views on evidence of chemical weapons usage in Syria, Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesperson, said that Russia “can’t accept proof that is a long way from being convincing.”

    Russia’s own media has had a variety of reactions, from former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev’s desires to see an agreement reached (“They must strike up a conversation that will lead to the improvement of relations,” he said) to the liberal paper Kommersant, which wrote that when the moment arrives that the U.S. strikes Syria, “what happens [after that moment] stopped mattering to him [Vladimir Putin]… The U.S. president might as well not travel to St Petersburg from Stockholm: Putin isn’t interested any more.”

    In spite of President Obama’s recent claims that Japan’s prime minister Shinzo Abe had shared opinions on the issue of a military strike, Abe has made no such statements of support.

    Meanwhile, on other parts of the summit floor, the only item on some countries’ tongues was money. A Reuters report on the G20 Summit has many nations up in arms over recent decisions by the U.S. to reduce the amount of printed money.

    The head of the Finance Ministry’s international department, Andrei Bokarev, told Reuters that “The most difficult and time-consuming discussions [are] related to the evaluation of the situation of global economy.” Bokarev also helped draft a communique that went out to the attending nations that insisted on a united monetary policy that is “carefully calibrated and clearly communicated.”

    India was targeted by China and Russia, in particular, for not handling an account deficit that risked the rupee’s economic health, particularly while the U.S. dollar is being tapered. The communique made it expressively clear: “emerging markets agree to take the necessary actions to support growth and maintain stability, including efforts to improve fundamentals, increase resilience to external shocks and strengthen financial systems.”

    One major positive to come out of this year’s G20: the European downturn appears to be coming around. European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso was thrilled because,”at this G20 we were no longer the focus of attention.”

    [Image via a formerly live stream on Youtube of opening of the G20 Summit]

  • Russian Warships Head to Syria’s Coast

    The St. Petersburg central naval command has announced the large landing warship “Nikolai Filchenkov” will set sail for the Syrian coast to join two Russian destroyers which have already left, as Moscow boosts it’s presence in the region ahead of expectations that the US will not wait for the world to support them. The US is unlikely to wait for any support from world leaders or the United Nations but use the expected approval of its Congress to launch a two-month “limited” campaign as early as the end of the month.

    The US also has warships in the area and, as president Barack Obama has previously revealed, any military engagement would likely come from air strikes – most likely fired from (warships) on suspected chemical weapons plants and the mechanisms of delivery including the Syrian airforce.

    The Russian warships will join a Russian anti-submarine ship, a frigate and three other landing ships in the eastern Mediterranean coast. The Russians say the latest warship deployed would be collecting “special cargo” but would not elaborate.

    “The ship will make call in Novorossiisk, where it will take on board special cargo and set off for the designated area of its combat duty in the eastern Mediterranean,”

    a Russian official said.

    The deployment comes amid high tensions at the G20 summit of world leaders, which took place in the Russian city St. Petersburg, the Summit was intended to debate the economy and poverty in developing nations but instead the agenda has been hijacked by the Syrian crisis.There is a clear split in opinion at the conference as to the evidence that the Bashar al-Assad regime used chemical weapons on its citizens which killed more than 1400 people including 400 children last month.

    There now appears to be little debate chemicals were used but a split on who actually used them. Both Russia and China, which held private talks at the summit, do not believe the evidence sustainable, while on the other hand, the US, UK, France and Australia believe it is and that retaliation is required.

    UN chief Ban ki-moon has been attending the summit urging support for a peace conference, while Russian President Vladimir Putin, overnight Summit host, held a dinner for the leaders during which they made their case for entry into the Syria crisis. President Obama said he had ”very high confidence” in the evidence showing that chemical weapons were used and urged strong condemnation. He was supported by Prime Minister David Cameron, and Australia’s Foreign Minister Bob Carr, who also said that they also had strong evidence of an atrocity by the regime. France’s Francois Hollande said he was prepared to enter the conflict.

    The leaders have precious little time to bridge very bitter gaps and quell the animosity between nations, notably the US, Russia, and the UK. The tensions in forums have made talks difficult. Mr Putin’s official spokesman Dmitry Peskov yesterday dismissed Britain as “just a small island no-one pays any attention to” and boasted how rich Russians were buying up most of Chelsea, an upmarket suburb in London, and the US has made clear it’s disdain for Putin. Who wouldn’t love to be a fly on that wall?

  • Syria: Latest Global Responses and Developments

    After announcing his intentions to intervene militarily in the Syrian crisis, President Barack Obama is working on building support before Congress reconvenes on 9 September and discusses the President’s resolution. In the meantime, other nations and organizations are communicating an array of positions on how the world should respond to the chemical attacks of 21 August.

    France Confirms Syrian Regime Complicit

    French intelligence reporting released to parliament today tells a story similar to that of the US, minus about 1,200 deaths. Paris reports that the chemical weapons attack on August 21st was ordered by Syrian President Bashar al-Asad’s regime, but lists at least 281 deaths, a marked reduction from the 1,400 reported in the US intelligence assessment of last Friday. Casualty numbers are also reported differently by the NGO, Doctors Without Borders, which lists between 355-585 dead.

    French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault presented the documents to lawmakers to provide evidence of Damascus’ culpability. Ayrault stated prior to revealing the intelligence files to French parliament, “We are going to give parliamentarians everything that we have—classified until now—so that each of them can take into account the reality of this unacceptable attack.” Paris called for Damascus’ violence to be answered with firm actions that are, “proportionate,” to those of 21 August.

    French President François Hollande—who has voiced his willingness to, “punish,” al-Asad—is not required to seek parliamentary approval for military action, as is his counterpart across the Channel, British Prime Minister David Cameron, but parliament is calling a Wednesday emergency meeting nonetheless. Hollande, seen here in a 2012 meeting with Obama, will likely find supporting airstrikes unhelpful in improving his 20% approval ratings among his people however, as a Friday poll reported that 64% of the French people are opposed to any military action in Syria.

    Paris has been monitoring issues in Syria since before August, and much of this intelligence supported today’s briefings. Data included test results on samples of suspected chemical weapons that journalists for French newspaper Le Monde smuggled out of the country in mid-April.

    Russians Unconvinced

    “What we were shown before and recently by our American partners, as well as by the British and French, does not convince us at all,” that sound bite was offered today by Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, in front of a group of students. Lavrov said that requests for further details from the Western powers were met with denials, because the materials were classified, “therefore it cannot be shown to us. This means there are no such facts.”

    Russian President Vladimir Putin said the idea that Syrian officials called for an attack on a day UN monitors were in-country, “defies any logic,” accusing rebel groups of provoking an intervention by the West.

    In related developments, an unnamed Russian military official reports that a Russian ship was deployed to the eastern Mediterranean, “to collect tactical information in the area of escalated conflict.”

    NATO Chief Agrees Damascus Attacked; No Further Role for NATO

    NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, favored a strong reaction to chemical weapons use in a Monday address. Rasmussen allows that he’s convinced the attacks were ordered by Damascus. While the NATO chief offered the alliance as a place for nations to discuss possible actions, he says that he sees no additional role for NATO.

    Arab League Offers Nonspecific Support

    The Arab League on Sunday called for the UN and the international community, “to take the necessary measures,” against their Syrian neighbor. The organization stopped short of defining those measures. The ambiguity was attributed by some sources to Obama’s hesitation to call for military strikes without approval from Congress, which some see as a stance that cannot be relied upon for action.

    Some of the Arab nations, with Saudi Arabia at their head, were hoping for swift and decisive action, which they have been unilaterally promoting to Washington. Syria is viewed by many in the region as a dangerous ally of Iran, a country they view as a risky opponent to their national interests, therefore military action against al-Asad’s regime could be beneficial to Arab neighbors in particular. Saudi and Egyptian officials, in the same Cairo news conference, presented opposite opinions on what should be done. Egypt directly opposes military action and Saudi Arabia labels it a moral imperative.

    Among other League members, Morocco issued a statement demanding the Syrian regime be held accountable for chemical weapons attacks; however, Moroccan foreign minister Youssef Amrani declined to come out in support of Western airstrikes, assuring, “When the American government will make a decision on this, we will respond.”

    Syrian President Says Airstrikes Could Ignite “Powder Keg”

    Al-Asad said in a Monday interview that military strikes by the West would risk igniting a regional war in the, “powder keg,” of the Middle East. “We cannot only talk about a Syrian response, but what could happen after the first strike. Nobody knows what will happen,” al-Asad said.

    Damascus is reaching out to the UN for support. In a letter to UN Chief Ban Ki-moon and President of the Security Council Maria Cristina Perceval, Syrian UN Ambassador Bashar Ja’afari challenged, “the UN Secretary General to shoulder his responsibilities for preventing any aggression on Syria and pushing forward reaching a political solution to the crisis in Syria.” The Ambassador further accused the US of using force against anyone in opposition to US policies and labeled threats of military action, “out of the frame of international legitimacy.”

    Back Home in Washington

    The President has asked Senator John McCain—once his campaign opponent—to the White House to discuss concerns that Obama is being too soft in his response. McCain has advocated a strong intervention, telling CBS’ Face the Nation, “It can’t just be, in my view, pinprick cruise missiles,” and more strongly criticizing Obama’s decision during an interview with Israeli TV as having, “encouraged our enemies,” by passing off the resolution to Congress.

    Other US lawmakers received private briefings on the President’s position by administration officials, the President, and Vice President Joe Biden. A selection of members from Congress received a two-hour classified briefing on Sunday. Lawmakers are meeting separately, before they reconvene next week, to formulate their responses to possible military action toward the Syrian regime.

    [Image via Wikimedia Commons.]

  • Russia NORAD Joint Operation Takes Place

    The AP via ABC News has a story of military cooperation this evening with the combined efforts of Russian and NORAD forces in a training exercise known as Vigilant Eagle. The exercise is a familiar one, and has been taken place five times since 2003.

    Conducted over parts of Alaska and eastern Russia, a team consisting of the Russian Federation Air Force, the Canadian Air Force operating out of NORAD facilities in Anchorage, Alaska and Colorado Springs were present to monitor the joint operation.

    Vigilant Eagle involves a sort of ‘switcheroo’: Russian observers were sitting at the NORAD facilities in the United States, while NORAD observers were sent to Khabarovsk to see things from the Russian side.

    The operation is a hypothetical wargame: A small 757 passenger jet gets “hijacked” on its way out of Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport on Tuesday, and a pair of Canadian CF-18 Hornets representing NORAD intercept the plane over the western coast. The plane is handed off at the international border to three Russian SU-27 jets. The Russian jets escort the plane to a Russian Air Force base in Anadyr. The exercise was repeated the following day when the plane leaves and returns to Anchorage under Canadian escort.

    The director of Operations for NORAD, Canadian Major Gen. AndrĂ© Viens, was quoted by the AP as saying that the exercises this week represented the first time that Russian and North American militaries have worked together since the strained relations over Edward Snowden’s leaking, then the Syria crises, and finally over the issue of gay rights.

    Viens felt that the ongoing cooperation with the Russian military was without incident, and his counterpart, Gen. Major Dmitry Gomenkov, said that he “saw no problems” through a translator, and both generals have called the exercise a success with planning for next year’s exercise to begin in November.

    [Image via a brief Youtube video detailing the subject matter]

  • Russia Warns U.S. of Fallout if Syria is Struck

    Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov spoke to reporters in Moscow today about the United States’ potential counter-strike against Syria in the wake of allegations of chemical weapons use on a Syrian suburb.

    Bloomberg has Lavrov using the words “slippery slope” to describe American desires to retaliate against Syria, and that any military intervention that takes place outside the UN Security Council would be a “gross violation of international law… Western leaders are making statements that indicate that they won’t wait for the results of this commission, they have already decided everything… It’s a very dangerous slippery slope that our Western partners have gone on before. I hope common sense prevails.”

    Russia’s Foreign Ministry warned that the chemical attack could have been staged by Syrian opposition groups as a pretext for a preemptive American strike against the Assad regime.

    Syrian opposition groups remain steadfast in their claims that 1300 victims were killed by nerve agents on Aug. 21 in a chemical attack on the suburb of Ghouta in Damascus. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview with Russian paper Izvestia that such allegations are “nonsense… First they make an accusation and only then search for evidence.”

    The UK’s foreign secretary, William Hague, has said that Britain remains convinced that Assad is responsible for the attack, and that agreement on the parts of the United States and France were needed to take action. Turkey’s foreign minister has said that they intend to start a coalition against Syria if the UN takes no actions.

    A Forbes story recalls Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel saying that President Obama will “prepare options for all contingencies.” Unfortunately, this kind of post-911 posturing is the same behavior that frustrated the world with former President George W. Bush, and Russian lawmakers are calling President Obama a cloned copy of the younger Bush, particularly with regard to his drive for war:

    [Image via an ABC News video on Youtube about the subject]

  • Wentworth Miller Shares Important Personal News

    Female fans of the popular hit series Prison Break may be letting out a collective sigh of disappointment this evening as Wentworth Miller has announced the reason behind his decision not to attend the St. Petersburg International Film Festival as the respected guest of honor. His reason, released in the form of a letter, as many popular and significant rejections tend to go down, was submitted to the festival’s director, Maria Averbakh.

    “Thank you for your kind invitation. As someone who has enjoyed visiting Russia in the past and can also claim a degree of Russian ancestry, it would make me happy to say yes. However, as a gay man, I must decline. I am deeply troubled by the current attitude toward and treatment of gay men and women by the Russian government. The situation is in no way acceptable, and I cannot in good conscience participate in a celebratory occasion hosted by a country where people like myself are being systematically denied their basic right to live and love openly. Perhaps, when and if circumstances improve, I’ll be free to make a different choice.” Wentworth Miller shared these words via the GLAAD website in reference to a bill signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this year.

    This law, having garnered much attention, concerns fines being placed on individuals who are Russian citizens as well as people who are either visiting or vacationing within the country. Public officials and organizations are not exempt from potential fines, relating to nothing more specific than engaging in the propaganda. What is the propaganda one may ask?

    Article 6.21 of the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offenses translates as follows: Propaganda is the act of distributing information among minors that 1) is aimed at the creating nontraditional sexual attitudes, 2) makes nontraditional sexual relations attractive, 3) equates the social value of traditional and nontraditional sexual relations, or 4) creates an interest in nontraditional sexual relations.

    The handsome and talented actor became personally renown for his intellect as a Princeton graduate as well as professionally renown for the silent intensity he delivered to his role as the dutiful and reflective brother in Prison Break. Fans supported him during his early Dinotopian years and well into his scavenging-trying-to-break-free-of-these-prison-bar years. Maybe all he really needed was to break free from other intrinsically-less-noticeable prison bars.

  • Game of Thrones Actress Part of Russian Campaign

    Emilia Clarke is part of a political campaign to increase perceptions of safety in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, unbeknownst to the famous Game of Thrones actress and to great disgust for fans of the hit series. Yakov Silin, who is running for mayor of Yekaterinburg, used the image of the Mother of Dragons, which is one of the many titles for her character in the popular television show.

    On the politician’s Facebook page he labeled the photo as belonging to a twenty-four-year-old adult woman with the name of Anya and even attached a quote supposedly belonging to the young hypothetical female resident that read, “I suddenly noticed that I haven’t been afraid to take walks around Yekaterinburg at night the last couple of years. It’s so wonderful: few people around, the street lamps alight, the fresh air. It’s incredibly beautiful, especially after the rain.”

    Outrage over the inaccuracy of the image led to a repulsed outpouring from a strong following of the show, prompting the following statement from Yakov Silin’s campaign team, “We assure you that Daenerys Targaryen is just a beautiful woman here. We don’t aspire to her support, but we wouldn’t be ashamed to show her around Yekaterinburg.”

    When the overall purpose is for a good cause, is there justification for using celebrity photos without forthright, open consent from the actual party in question? The photo was included in a campaign to promote young girls feeling comfortable in the city during the evening hours to carry on with social agendas without fear of rape or other brutal criminal activities. This sounds like a positive purpose, right? However, posting without making Emilia Clarke aware, not-so-positive. While Emilia Clarke hasn’t released a statement indicating her feelings about the photograph, fans have taken up the torch to voice their concerns about using the image.

  • Free-To-Play FIFA PC Game Coming to Brazil & Russia

    Publisher EA this week announced that it will soon release a free-to-play version of its popular FIFA video games – but only for Brazil and Russia. FIFA World will be out for PC in those countries sometime in November.

    FIFA World will have more than 600 clubs from more than 30 licensed leagues, including the Russian Football Premier League and 19 officially licensed clubs from Brazil. The game will include the “Ultimate Team” mode found in FIFA 14, and will be built around it. Players will be able to create their own teams, presumably purchasing top players to fill out their squad.

    “Brazil and Russia are priority markets for EA Sports and especially our FIFA brand,” said Matt Bilbey, group general manager at EA Sports. “We are excited to bring to these markets a custom-built, free-to-play PC experience developed around FIFA Ultimate Team. FIFA World will be a fun new way to play FIFA for new fans.”

    EA has also announced an closed beta for FIFA World has begun. The game will not feature the graphics quality of FIFA 14, as it has been tooled to be accessible for “average spec” PCs, including laptops.

    EA has already experimented with a successful free-to-play FIFA game in South Korea, FIFA Online 3. Access to that game will soon be expanded throughout southeast Asia and China.

  • Bloodhound Gang Member Puts Russian Flag Down Pants

    The Bloodhound Gang has long had a reputation for saying and doing exactly what’s on their minds, but a recent display of onstage shenanigans in Odessa resulted in the band being kicked out of a music festival and deported, and an attack on one of the band members.

    What got the band’s Russian fans so hot under the collar was bassist Jared Hasselhoff putting the Russian flag down his pants and pulling it out the back, something the musicians say he often does with various items onstage. Other band members acknowledged during the show that they didn’t agree with his choice of props, but that did nothing to endear Russian fans to them. As they moved on with their tour, they were reportedly pelted with eggs and tomatoes by angry residents.

    The incident was captured on camera and uploaded on YouTube, and as it grew in popularity, the band made more and more enemies. They were promptly kicked out of the Kubana Music Festival; according to Rolling Stone, culture minister Vladimir Medinsky tweeted: “Bloodhound Gang packing suitcases. These idiots won’t perform in Kubana.”

    Hasselhoff publicly apologized, but the band was reportedly deported anyway and at least one member was attacked by Russian nationalists as they arrived at the airport. Russian law enforcement has threatened to press charges, and music lovers have begun taking sides on the issue.

    “The difference between real punk and the Bloodhound Gang is that real punk is about context: here is what makes them mad, here are their ideals. Jimmy Pop and company were not about context, only the form. Their goal was to make as many people mad as possible,” said misha Kozyrev, a music critic.

  • Edward Snowden Offered a Job at Russian Social Network VK

    Today, we got news that NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden had been granted temporary asylum in Russia. That meant that he could leave the airport that he’d been holed up in since whole thing began (which he did, promptly). He’ll be able to live in Russia for a year, and will have to have his asylum request renewed after that – if he chooses to stay in Russia.

    So, what now?

    Well, if he finds himself in need of work (once he comes out of hiding, which could be a while), one Russian tech giant is willing to offer him a job.

    VK (VKontakte) founder and CEO Pavel Durov has offered Snowden a job at his social network – as a security specialist. VK is the second most popular social network in Europe (behind Facebook), and the most popular in Russia. Here’s what Durov had to say in a public post on VK this morning:

    Here’s what it looks like once it’s beeb put through Google Translate and cleaned up:

    Today Edward Snowden – a man who denounced the crimes of U.S. intelligence against citizens of the world – has received temporary asylum in Russia. At such moments, you feel proud of our country and regret the U.S. policy – a country committed to the principles on which it was once built. I invite Edward to St. Petersburg and will be happy if he decides to fill up a stellar team of programmers at VKontakte. In the end, there is no more popular European Internet company than VK. I think Edward might be interested in protecting the personal data of millions of our users.

    So, you know, at least Snowden has that option.

    [VK via GigaOm]

  • Edward Snowden Granted Temporary Asylum In Russia

    In early June, Edward Snowden revealed to the world that he was the whistleblower behind a series of leaked documents that detailed the NSA’s surveillance programs. Since then, he’s been stuck in the transit area of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport. He’s applied to over a dozen countries for asylum, and one has finally granted it to him.

    RT reports that the Russia has granted Snowden temporary asylum. He will now be able to leave the airport and live within Russia for a year. He will have to have his asylum request renewed every year unless he applies for permanent residency and becomes a Russian citizen.

    As expected, Snowden has already left the airport. He left before his temporary asylum was announced so that he could get out of the airport unnoticed. As for his destination, that will not be disclosed. His lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena says that “he is the most wanted person on earth and his security will be a priority.”

    Speaking of security, WikiLeaks says that it sent its own Sarah Harrison to ensure his safety while in Russia:

    So, what happens now? Snowden says that he will eventually address the press, but not today. For now, he wants a little privacy. When he does speak, expect to hear him mention something about never going back to the U.S. The recent Bradley Manning verdict pretty much guarantees that he will be convicted of violating the Espionage Act, and he’s already said that he’s afraid of being tortured and/or killed by U.S. government officials.

  • Yandex.Disk Expands Its Cloud Storage Options

    “Google of Russia” search engine Yandex is expanding the cloud storage options for users of its Yandex.Disk storage service. Yandex.Disk offers 20 GB of storage for free, but now users can add on 10 GB, 100GB, and 1 TB packages for an extra fee.

    Each package is cheaper is you commit to a whole year. The 10 GB addition costs $1 per month or $10 for the whole year. The 100GB add-on will run you $5 per month or $50 for the year. The 1 TB package will cost you $30 per month or $300 for the entire year.

    Yandex first launched Yandex.Disk back in April of 2012, and at that time is was invitation and Russian only. By September, the company had opened the cloud storage service up to everyone. The launch of Yandex.Disk was notable for another reason – the fact that the Russian search giant actually beat Google to the punch. It wasn’t for a couple of months after Yandex unveiled Disk that Google Drive launched.

    As far as prices go, Yandex’s add-ons mesh with what Google Drive offers – except Yandex is cheaper when you start talking about 1 TB of storage. It’s also cheaper than Dropbox at that tier.

    “Yandex.Disk now has about 12 million users worldwide,” said Natalya Khaitina, head of cloud services at Yandex. “For those of them who need a cloud storage space above 20 GB available for free, we have developed flexible terms for buying more storage space at affordable prices.”

    If you opt for the pay-per-moth route, and let’s say you miss a month, your stored files don’t disappear or become inaccessible or anything. You can still access everything – you just can’t add any more to the cloud locker, obviously.

    Yandex.Disk is currently available in 4 languages – English, Russian, Ukrainian, and Turkish. Yandex.Disk offer apps for Windows, Mac OS, iOS, Android, and Windows Phone.

    In other Yandex news, co-founder Ilya Segalovich passed away over the weekend after a battle with cancer.

  • Ilya Segalovich Dies: Yandex Co-Founder Was 48

    On Saturday afternoon Ilya Segalovich, co-founder of the “Google of Russia”, Yandex, was taken off life support and passed away. That ended a battle with terminal metastatic gastric cancer that began nearly a year ago.

    Early reports indicated that Segalovich had died on Thursday, July 25th. The company put out a statement lamenting Segalovich’s unexpected death. But shortly after, company CEO Arkady Volozh clarified Segalovich’s condition – saying that he was still alive, but in a coma.

    “Ilya’s official medical condition was ‘coma with no signs of brain activity’. From what has appeared in the media, it felt like some thought that he was in a vegetative state – a state, in which the brain is active, even though other, technically replaceable, organs have failed. A patient in a vegetative state can be maintained on life support for years. In the case of brain death, however, supporting a body longer than a few days is impossible,” said Volozh.

    On Saturday, Segalovich was taken off life support.

    “We had to let him go with dignity,” said Volozh.

    After his diagnosis with terminal cancer last September, Segalovich wasn’t given much time to live – but as Volozh says, “a miracle happened.” Segalovich began to respond to treatment, and his cancer was stalled. But last week, doctors discovered a tumor in his brain. Within days, Segalovich had slipped into a coma.

    “Ilya was a friend of life and this is a terrible personal loss. Ilya’s contributions to the founding and development of Yandex were invaluable. More importantly, his philanthropic contributions touched many children in need. My thoughts and those of all of the Yandex family are with Ilya’s family at this difficult time. We know that the strong technical team Ilya helped to build will carry on the work Ilya cared so passionately about. Ilya was an encyclopedia in technology and his highest ethical standards has always set the landmark for us all,” said Volozh.

    “Yandex” was first invented in 1993 by Volozh and Segalovich to describe their search technologies, and it means “yet another index.” Yandex.ru was first launched in 1997, and was incorporated as a standalone company in 2000. Today, Yandex hold nearly two-thirds of the search market share in Russia.

  • Yandex Co-Founder Ilya Segalovich Dies at 48 [UPDATED]

    UPDATE: Yandex CEO Arkady Volozh has clarified an announcement made by his company earlier today that Segalovich had died. According to him, he is actually in a coma:

    “We want to clarify an earlier statement that the company put out. We have since learnt that Ilya is in coma and on life support although not showing any brain function. Our thoughts are with him at this time,” says Volozh.

    ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Yandex, Russia’s largest search engine and one of the largest internet companies in the region, has just announced the death of Ilya Segalovich – the company’s co-founder. Segalovich had also served at CTO of the company since 2000.

    “Ilya was a friend of life and this is a terrible personal loss. Ilya’s contributions to the founding and development of Yandex were invaluable. More importantly, his philanthropic contributions touched many children in need. My thoughts and those of all of the Yandex family are with Ilya’s family at this difficult time. We know that the strong technical team Ilya helped to build will carry on the work Ilya cared so passionately about. Ilya was an encyclopedia in technology and his highest ethical standards has always set the landmark for us all,” said CEO Arkady Volozh in a statement.

    Segalovich had been diagnosed with cancer, but according to Yandex, it was treatable and he was responding well to treatment. That’s why his death from complications comes as such a shock.

    Yandex holds nearly two-thirds of the search market share in Russia, and it one of the top search engines in the world (it passed Bing in terms of total monthly queries back in February). Yandex also offers a series of internet services, like free cloud storage and its own Android app store. It’s often called the “Google of Russia.”

    The term “Yandex” was first invented in 1993 by Volozh and Segalovich to describe their search technologies, and it means “yet another index.” Yandex.ru was first launched in 1997, and was incorporated as a standalone company in 2000.

  • Edward Snowden May Finally Be Able To Enter Russia [Report]

    One month ago, former NSA contractor Edward Snowden arrived in Russia from Hong Kong after leaking numerous secret NSA spy programs to the press. Since then, he’s been confined to the transit zone of the Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport as the United States invalidated his passport. Now it appears that may finally be able to leave.

    RT reports that Snowden has finally been granted temporary entry into Russia. Sources with knowledge of the situation say that Snowden’s lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, will bring him the papers he needs to leave the airport this morning.

    It should be noted that Snowden hasn’t been granted asylum just yet. Instead, he’s only been granted temporary entry into the country while the Russian government considers his asylum request. A final decision will probably be made within three months. After that, Snowden will either be granted asylum, or his request will be rejected. If that happens, he has the option to appeal the decision to the courts.

    So, what will Snowden do upon leaving the airport? According to his lawyer, he plans to live and work in Russia for a short time. With his current papers, he can live anywhere in Russia. If he’s granted asylum, he will have all the rights of a Russian citizen and therefore have access to even more resources.

    Of course, the U.S. isn’t going to be very happy about this. The Obama administration has made it clear that it wants to bring Snowden home to face charges under the Espionage Act for leaking classified NSA documents. Snowden obviously doesn’t want that as he fears he’ll be subjected to torture and possibly the death penalty if he were to return to the U.S.

    For now though, Snowden will remain in Russia and be reasonably safe from the U.S. authorities. Sure, the CIA could capture him in Russia, but doing so would strain the already brittle relationship between Russia and the U.S. In all honesty, Russia is probably the best place for Snowden at the moment as the U.S. will not try anything as long as he stays in the country.

  • Russia’s Anti-Gay Laws Provoke Olympic Committee

    In the midst of American victories for marriage equality and other LGBTQAI+ issues, it is important to both recognize and publicize issues of unjust and ignorant behavior in other parts of the world. Echoes of Martin Luther King Junior’s famous quote come to mind; “None of us are free until all of us are free.”

    Russian members of the LGBTQAI+ community have been facing an onslaught of laws, passed by president Vladimir Putin, that persecute and punish individuals based solely on their sexual orientation. Included on the roster of injustices are laws that prohibit “homosexual propaganda” (which can be something as simple as, say, telling children that it’s not a complete abomination to be anything besides straight) and the adoption of Russian-born children by any LGBTQAI+ couples, or any couples or single parents who live in a country where marriage equality is legal in any form.

    The most publicized injustice is the law allowing the Russian police to arrest and detain, on sight, any person who openly identifies as or is suspected of being “homosexual, lesbian, or pro-gay,” including tourists and visitors to the country. This law has caused a stir on the internet and on a few news outlets, especially in light of the six month proximity of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, which Russia is set to host.

    The International Olympic Committee has released a statement concerning this particular law, saying that they will protect LGBTQAI+ athletes who wish to compete from persecution and punishment. The statement righteously proclaims that, “The International Olympic Committee is clear that sport is a human right and should be available to all regardless of race, sex or sexual orientation… The Games themselves should be open to all, free of discrimination, and that applies to spectators, officials, media and of course athletes. We would oppose in the strongest terms any move that would jeopardize this principle. ” The committee has not stated exactly how they plan to follow through on their promise to keep LGBTQAI+ competitors safe.

    Ambiguity coming from the language used by both Russian law and the Olympic committee’s statement make for much instability and anxiety. What exactly qualifies as “propaganda,” what detainment and arrest entail for LGBTQAI+ individuals, and how the committee intends to “oppose in the strongest terms” these injustices remains to be seen. As the situation unfolds, the writer urges readers to think critically on the aforementioned quote that introduces this article; “None of us are free until all of us are free.”

  • Edward Snowden Isn’t Leaving Russia Anytime Soon

    Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor that leaked the agency’s surveillance programs to newspapers all over the world for the past two months, is currently holed up in a Moscow airport as he awaits news on his asylum requests. It seems, however, that he doesn’t want to leave Russia anytime soon.

    RT reports that Snowden’s lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, has said that the whistleblower has no plans to leave Russia at the moment. Last week, Snowden formally submitted a request that he be granted temporary asylum in Russia. It looks like that temporary asylum may last longer than he anticipated as the U.S. is doing its best to make sure he isn’t granted asylum anywhere else.

    Interestingly enough, Kucherena also says that Snowden may request full Russian citizenship in the future if his asylum requests to South American countries don’t pan out. Of course, he will have to gain asylum in Russia first, and that may be somewhat problematic.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier this month that he would grant Snowden asylum only if he stopped leaking secrets that harm the U.S. Later on, he said that “any activity of [Snowden] that could damage US-Russian relations is unacceptable for us.” Snowden is reportedly finished with leaking so it shouldn’t be too much a problem going forward.

    Snowden’s main concern now is the U.S. Kucherena says that he’s afraid “of torture, and that he could get executed.” It’s certainly in the realm of possibility as being convicted under the Espionage Act can lead to an execution sentence. He could agree to return to the U.S. if the Obama administration agreed to not charge him with violating the Espionage Act, but that’s a long shot.

    For now, Snowden will continue to live out of the transit zone in a Moscow airport. If he is ever granted asylum in Russia, he will be given all the rights and privileges of a Russian citizen. Even then, however, his life will probably never return to anything resembling normal.

  • Edward Snowden Requests Temporary Asylum In Russia

    In June, it was revealed that a number of leaks regarding the NSA’s secret spy programs were published by an NSA contractor named Edward Snowden. It was also revealed that he was in Hong Kong, but he soon left for Russia. Since then, he’s been living in a Moscow airport applying for asylum in various countries.

    Snowden’s search for asylum seemingly came to an end earlier this week when Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua all agreed to offer the whistleblower asylum. That was the easy part. The hard part is actually getting to any one of those countries as the U.S. will use its influence to prevent Snowden’s plane from entering the airspace of any of its allies. It already did so once when the United States’ European allies grounded Bolivian President Evo Morales’ plane in Europe over suspicions that Snowden was on board.

    With the U.S. closely monitoring every plan leaving Moscow for South and Central America, Snowden really only has one choice available to him – seeking asylum in Russia. It shouldn’t be that hard actually as Russian president Vladimir Putin offered Snowden asylum on the condition that he stop releasing documents that harm the U.S. He said in a small private news conference that he would refrain from publishing any more leaks to meet this condition.

    It should be noted that Snowden is only seeking temporary asylum in Russia. He would much prefer one of the Latin American countries that offered him asylum, but he says that the U.S. is making that impossible at the moment. He called on the Obama administration to recognize International law regarding asylum requests and grant him safe passage to the country of his choice.

    That might be difficult as RT reports that the American embassy in Russia said that it does not consider Snowden a “rights activist.” It says that he “broke the law and therefore must be made accountable.” In other words, the U.S. isn’t going to budge until it can coerce Snowden into submitting himself to U.S. authorities.

  • Brazil, India Smartphone Markets Grow as China Eclipses U.S.

    China is expected to overtake the U.S. at the top global smartphone market sometime in 2013, and some metrics show that it has already happened. Now, analysts are predicting that other emerging countries could rise to become top smartphone markets later this decade.

    Analyst firm ABI Research is now predicting that Russia will be rise to become the 7th-largest smartphone market by 2018, up from a predicted 11th-largest this year. In addition, Brazil and India are predicted to be in the top four largest smartphone markets by 2018.

    “With room to grow, the emerging BRIC nations are displacing established markets such as the US and Japan as market leaders in terms of smartphone shipments,” said Michael Morgan, senior analyst with ABI.

    ABI also predicts that Brazil, Russia, India, and China will account for 33% of smartphone shipments by 2018, matching the predicted combined 33% share of North America and Western Europe that same year. North America and Western Europe currently account for an estimated 39% of smartphone shipments in 2013. The cause of this rapid rise, say ABI analysts, is low-cost Android smartphones that have been developed and risen in quality in the past few years.

    “When you look at operating system share in emerging markets, you tend to find that Android has been busy fulfilling its mission to bring the Internet to consumers who can’t afford a traditional PC or Laptop,” said Jeff Orr, senior practice director at ABI.