Russia Approves Ulyanovsk NATO Hub

The Russian government has given approval for the United States and its NATO allies to use a Russian air base in the Volga city of Ulyanovsk as a hub for transits to and from Afghanistan.

The decree is dated June 25.

Moscow announced plans to create a NATO transit hub in Ulyanovsk in March. The decision sparked protests in the city, the birthplace of Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin.

Dozens wounded as Serbs, Kosovo police clash

By Fatos Bytyci and Aleksandar Vasovic

Thu, 28 Jun 2012 17:32 GM

PRISTINA/BELGRADE, June 28 (Reuters) - More than 50 people were injured in clashes on Thursday when the authorities in Kosovo deported a group of visiting Serbs who accused the police of shooting at them, leaving one with life-threatening gunshot wounds.

The group of about 70 mostly young Serbs was travelling in two buses to Gazimestan, a religious and historic site close to the capital Pristina, when police turned them back, arguing they had become "very aggressive, drunk and were provoking both police and citizens".

Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008, but tensions between the 90 percent Albanian majority and the small Serb minority have persisted, and relations with Belgrade itself have remained strained.

Serbian health authorities said one Serb sustained life-threatening injuries in the clashes and that five others were hospitalised with gunshot wounds. A total of twenty Serbs sought medical care in the towns of Kursumlija and Prokuplje, just outside Kosovo.

Police in Kosovo declined to confirm whether they had fired live rounds at the Serb group.

Doctors in Gracanica, a Serb municipality close to the capital Pristina, said they had treated 17 injured people after Molotov cocktails and stones were thrown at the Serbs' buses.

NATO's mission in Kosovo also said Molotov cocktails had been thrown at the convoy - as it passed through Pristina - and condemned the violence.

An Olive Branch from the Kremlin?

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday proposed legislation that analysts say could considerably weaken the power vertical he has spent the past 12 years erecting. In a draft bill submitted to legislators on Wednesday, Putin set out the principles by which the upper house of the Russian Parliament will be formed. This is his fourth attempt to reform the largely rubber-stamp chamber in 12 years.

A wave of massive protests that swept the country after the December parliamentary elections has forced the Kremlin to undertake some political reforms. Five days before leaving office, former President Dmitry Medvedev signed laws introducing gubernatorial elections and lowering requirements for running in parliamentary and presidential elections. But analysts said the measure, which Medvedev said would "raise the level of political culture," did not go far enough to enshrine the fundamental principle of democracy.

One of the shortcomings of Medvedev’s hasty political reforms, analysts say, is the absence of direct elections to the Federation Council. The latest amendments submitted by president Putin are expected to bridge that gap by instituting “direct elections” for senators. The current Federation Council, which cements Putin’s power vertical by routinely rubber-stamping all of the Kremlin’s legislative initiatives, is made up of two randomly chosen representatives from each of Russia’s 87 regions.

Venezuela to Buy More Russian T-72 Tanks

Caracas and Moscow have agreed on the purchase of additional 100 T-72 main battle tanks by Venezuela as part of a $4-bln loan secured by the oil-rich Latin American country in 2011 to buy Russian weaponry, Russia’s Kommersant newspaper said on Wednesday.

Russia completed in March the delivery of 92 modernized T-72B1V MBTs, the Smerch multiple-launch rocket systems and other military equipment to Venezuela under a separate $2.2-bln loan secured by Chavez' government in 2010.

Venezuela is a leading importer of Russian arms. Between 2005 and 2007, Caracas signed $4 billion worth of arms deals with Russia to buy Sukhoi fighter jets, combat helicopters, and small arms.

Mongolia: Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Sandwiched between China and Russia, Mongolia has long faced the dilemma of which neighbor to look to for economic and political support. However, since the fall of the Communist regime, Mongolia has pursued a ‘third neighbor’ policy that aims diversify its investment and trade relations beyond China and Russia. Since then, Mongolia has boosted ties with the United States, Canada, the European Union (Germany and the UK in particular) as well as South Korea and Japan. Beyond the economic realm, Mongolia has also contributed to UN peacekeeping missions, deployed troops to Iraq, and conducted joint military exercises with a host of states. In May 2012, Mongolia attended the 2012 NATO summit in Chicago under auspices of the Individual and Cooperation Program.

Mongolia also participates in regional initiatives such as the ASEAN Regional Forum. The country also holds observer status within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and is actively seeking membership of organizations like the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). Yet regional initiatives or cooperation with NATO do not provide Mongolia with any concrete security guarantees. Regional cooperation across East Asia – which is mainly focused on the economic realm – does not in its current form alter the balance of power politics still dominant in the region’s security dynamics. And while globalization may diminish the significance of physical distance, Northeast Asia’s economic and security dynamics ensure that Ulan Bator needs to maintain stable relations with its two powerful neighbors.

German court rules religious circumcision on boys an assault

BERLIN — Circumcising young boys on religious grounds amounts to grievous bodily harm, a German court ruled Tuesday in a landmark decision that the Jewish community said trampled on parents' religious rights.

The regional court in Cologne, western Germany, ruled that the "fundamental right of the child to bodily integrity outweighed the fundamental rights of the parents", a judgement that is expected to set a legal precedent.

"The religious freedom of the parents and their right to educate their child would not be unacceptably compromised, if they were obliged to wait until the child could himself decide to be circumcised," the court added.

The case was brought against a doctor in Cologne who had circumcised a four-year-old Muslim boy on his parents' wishes.

A few days after the operation, his parents took him to hospital as he was bleeding heavily. Prosecutors then charged the doctor with grievous bodily harm.
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The head of the Central Committee of Jews, Dieter Graumann, said the ruling was "an unprecedented and dramatic intervention in the right of religious communities to self-determination."

The judgement was an "outrageous and insensitive act. Circumcision of newborn boys is a fixed part of the Jewish religion and has been practiced worldwide for centuries," added Graumann.

Putin, Peres unveil Netanya memorial honoring Red Army

The tragedies and triumphs of the Soviet experience during World War II were remembered at the unveiling of a monument dedicated to the Red Army in Netanya on Monday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who began a tour of the country on Monday, and President Shimon Peres both attended the ceremony. They spoke of the crucial part the USSR played in defeating Nazi Germany.

“This is an opportunity to thank the Red Army,” said Peres. “Had it not defeated the Nazi beast then it is doubtful we would be standing here today. In World War II the Soviet Union prevented the world from surrendering.”

Putin, who spoke after Peres, expressed his gratitude to the president for his speech.

“What I just heard has warmed my feelings toward the Jewish people and especially toward Israel,” he said.
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The Victory Monument, as it is officially called, was a joint initiative of Israel and Russia implemented by a committee with members from both countries. It has two parts The first is a tunnellike passage made of black concrete symbolizing the hardships and sacrifices of the war. It leads to the second part, an open space overlooking the sea where two giants wings made of white marble have been erected.

More than half a million Jews fought in the Red Army in WWII against the Nazis; 120,000 were killed.

Washington Arms Bahrain, Denounces Russia For Arming Syria

http://www.forbes.com/sites/dougbandow/2012/06/18/

It wasn’t that long ago when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Syrian President Bashar Assad was a force for reform.  Now she is outraged that Russia is allegedly backing Assad with weapons.  At the same time, the U.S. is arming the government of Bahrain, which oppresses its Shia majority.Duplicity and hypocrisy may be inevitable in diplomacy.  However, ostentatious duplicity and hypocrisy are not.  Sanctimoniously denouncing Moscow for behaving like Washington tarnishes America’s image abroad.

Syria is a horrid tragedy, an incipient civil war as the majority of people attempts to oust a family 

dictatorship.  Unlike Libya, however, a substantial segment of the population either supports 

Assad or opposes a revolution which could result in a vengeful, violent spree against ethnic and 

religious minorities.  No outcome looks good and there is little Washington can do to prevent more

 violence.

Kremlin Aide: Putin, Obama Meeting 'Constructive'

MOSCOW, June 22 (RIA Novosti)

“Putin invited Obama to visit Russia; Obama invited Putin. They agreed to keep in contact by phone,” Ushakov said, refuting media reports that painted the meeting between the two leaders as difficult and rigid.

In fact, the media treated the meeting as virtually the centerpiece of the G20 summit, he said.

“A number of U.S. pundits drew the hasty conclusion that the talks had been difficult, but this was based solely on the facial expressions and body language of the two leaders during the short time when the press was present," Ushakov said.

"But I would say that the meeting was constructive and frank, it showed the desire of both leaders to strengthen bilateral strategic cooperation. The atmosphere was very cordial.”

He noticed that the meeting lasted more than two hours instead of the planned hour and 15 minutes.

Syria Shoots Down Turkish Warplane, Fraying Ties Further

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Turkey announced Friday that Syrian forces had shot down a Turkish warplane with two crew members over the Mediterranean, a potentially ominous turn for the worse in relations already frayed because of Turkey’s support for Syrian rebels fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.
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The measured wording of the announcement suggested that Turkey had not yet concluded that the Syrian action was provocative, and it acknowledged that Syrian rescue teams were cooperating in trying to locate the aircraft and crew. But the statement also left open the possibility that Turkey, a NATO member, would respond militarily, an outcome that could further complicate and widen the Syrian conflict.
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The Syrian Defense Ministry said later in a statement carried by the official Syrian Arab News Agency that its antiaircraft gunners had hit an unidentified aircraft flying at “very low altitude and at high speed” over Syria’s territorial waters less than a mile offshore, causing it to crash into the sea near the village of Om al-Tuyour. The statement said it was later found that the aircraft was a “Turkish military plane that entered Syrian airspace and was dealt with according to laws observed in such cases.”

Mr. Erdogan is one of the most strident critics of Syria’s sharp repression of its antigovernment uprising, now in its 16th month. Turkey has allowed more than 32,000 Syrian refugees to seek sanctuary and has permitted Syria’s opposition forces and dissidents in exile to organize and funnel supplies from Turkey over the 550-mile border with Syria.
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Russia’s Interfax news service reported Friday that Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov of Russia said that relations with the Americans are complicated by “the American mentality, the thought one has instilled since one’s childhood — we are No. 1 in the world and we are infallible.”

Russia says BRICS eye joint anti-crisis fund

(Reuters) - Major emerging economies may set up a joint anti-crisis fund if they do not receive enough say in decision making at the International Monetary Fund under proposed voting reforms, a senior Russian official said.

The leaders of BRICS nations - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - pledged at the Group of Twenty summit in Mexico to chip in $75 billion to boost the IMF's lending power but had sought to tie the loans to voting reforms.

At the same time BRICS finance ministers and central bank governors were instructed to study possible currency swaps arrangements and report to next year's BRICS leaders' summit in South Africa.

"It is clear that BRICS countries have entered the stage when they can demand to be reckoned with (in the course of the IMF reform)," Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak told reporters.
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The five BRICS nations represent 43 percent of the world's population and about 18 percent of global economic output. They have about $4 trillion in combined reserves, with the lion's share held by export powerhouse China.

St Petersburg university professors found guilty of handing missile secrets to China

Two Russian university professors were today found guilty of handing over missile secrets to China, the latest in a string of espionage cases that reflected underlying tensions between Moscow and Beijing despite declarations of cooperation and friendship.

The St.Petersburg City Court convicted Yevgeny Afanasyev and Svyatoslav Bobyshev of treason and sentenced them to 12-and-a-half and 12 years in prison respectively.

The two professors of St.Petersburg's Baltic State Technological University were accused of selling confidential information related to Russia's latest intercontinental ballistic missile, the Bulava, to representatives of China's military intelligence.
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After decades of Cold War-era rivalry, Moscow and Beijing have developed what they call a strategic partnership after the 1991 Soviet collapse.

China also has become a major customer for Russian weapons industries, although Russian arms exports have drained in recent years as China has sought to produce unlicensed copycat versions of Russian weapons.

Russia also has refrained from providing China with some of the latest military technologies, and a number of Russian scientists have been convicted of spying for China in recent years.

HERE COMES TROUBLE

BELGRADE -- Belgrade-based daily Politika is writing that the EU has given Serbia three new conditions in order for the country to begin accession talks.

The newspaper is basing its report on "unofficial sources in Belgrade", and says those conditions were recently delivered by EU official Miroslav Lajčak.

They include the dismantling of Serbian institutions in northern Kosovo - "but not schools, heath centers and hospitals", notes Politika - the opening of representative offices in Belgrade and Priština, and "a meeting at the highest level" between Belgrade and Priština. 

Furthermore, according to this, the European Union also demands that Serbia "shut down the court in Kosovska Mitrovica", and for a separate calling code for Kosovo to be introduced.

Leaders Call for End to Armenia-Azerbaijan War

The presidents of the United States, Russia and France issued a joint statement on Monday calling for a peaceful settlement to the more than 20-year war between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Clashes along the Azerbaijan-Armenia border have intensified in recent weeks, with soldiers killed on each side. The renewed fighting, in violation of prior ceasefire agreements, has stirred fears of wider bloodshed and drawn international condemnation.

The statement issued by the three presidents, Barack Obama, Vladimir V. Putin and François Hollande, at the Group of 20 meeting in Mexico, faulted the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan for not following steps toward an agreement urged last year. The statement called on them to move swiftly to make “the important decisions necessary to reach a lasting and peaceful settlement.”
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The unity on addressing the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict provided a glimmer of consensus between Mr. Obama and Mr. Putin whose face-to-face meeting on Monday was largely characterized by their disagreement over how to handle the conflict in Syria.

In a World of Complications, Obama Faces a Re-election Test

Mr. Obama’s trip to Mexico for a gathering of the Group of 20leaders is his third international summit meeting in a month, reflecting the pull of priorities for any incumbent. While he confers in Los Cabos, his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, will tour swing states. “I’ve still got my day job,” as Mr. Obama put it at a California fund-raiser last month.

The president will talk with European leaders about pulling out of the financial spiral after Sunday’s election in Greece, which gave the pro-bailout party a slim victory and the right to form a coalition government. He will also meet with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russiajust days after the Obama administration accused Moscow of supplying arms to Syria in its bloody crackdown on the uprising there.

Just as Mr. Obama and Mr. Putin meet for the first time as presidents, their underlings will sit down in Moscow for the latest round of talks with Iranthat are intended to curb Tehran’s nuclear program. The optimism over these talks this spring seems to have faded into fears of a further impasse that would play into Iran’s hands.

Russia sending navy ships to Syria amid uprising

(CBS/AP) MOSCOW - The Interfax news agency said Monday that two Russian navy ships are to sail to Syria to protect Russian citizens and its naval base there. This would mark the first time since the uprising in Syria started that Russia is sending extra troops to its base in Syria.

Interfax quoted an unidentified Russian navy official as saying that the Nikolai Filchenkov and Caesar Kunikov amphibious assault vessels will be heading to the Syrian port of Tartus, but didn't give a precise date. The official said the ships will carry an unspecified number of marines to protect Russians in Syria and evacuate materials from Tartus if necessary.

CBS News confirmed with the Russian navy that the two ships were ordered to go to Syria to protect its assets and was working to confirm whether the ships would be carrying additional military personnel.

The Defense Ministry had no immediate comment, and an official at the Russian Black Sea fleet declined to comment. Tartus is Russia's only naval base outside the former Soviet Union with Russian personnel of an unspecified size. The bulk of Russian military men in Syria are military advisers teaching Syrians how to use Russian weapons.

Putin, Obama to Talk Missile Defense, Syria Settlement in Mexico

MOSCOW, June 17 (RIA Novosti)

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama will on June 18 discuss projected deployment of missile shield in Europe, prospects of peace settlement in Syria and bilateral ties at the sidelines of G20 summit in Los Cabos, Mexico, Russian Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov said.

The G20 summit will be held on June 18-19. Obama and Putin will meet ahead of it. Following the negotiations, the presidents will issue a joint statement, which will enshrine the partners’ will to develop diplomatic ties and expand trade contacts.

Russian Shipping Company Denies Arms Deliveries to Syria

MOSCOW, June 16 (RIA Novosti)

Russia's Universal Cargo Logistics Holding (UCL Holding), owned by billionaire Vladimir Lisin, dismissed on Saturday media reports claiming that the company’s vessel had shipped weapons to violence-hit Syria, UCL Holding said.

“It was a general cargo of non-military purpose featuring electrical equipment and repair parts (rotor blades) in containers and wooden crates,” the company said in a statement, calling the reports “absurd speculations.”

Cyprus weighs bailout options: Europe or Russia?

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus faces the choice of asking for a bailout from its European partners in the euro or from Russia, and will decide where to turn after this weekend’s crucial elections in Greece, officials said Friday.

Government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou wouldn’t name the country where a possible loan could come from. But an official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, identified it as Russia.

Stefanou said Cyprus is looking at both options in order to have ‘‘flexibility to deal with the issue.’’
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The Cypriot government is wary of turning to the EU bailout fund due to fears that it might, like Greece, be forced to make painful austerity measures as a condition for the money. Cyprus is particularly afraid it might be asked to raise its 10 percent corporate tax rate, which attracts much foreign business.

Cyprus’ left-wing President Dimitris Christofias has repeatedly lamented what he described as Europe’s erroneously single-minded focus on austerity at the expense of policies that promote economic growth.

Because of these concerns, the government is again reaching out for a helping hand from Russia, a trusted ally with vested interests in the island’s economy.

Russians have billions stashed in Cypriot banks and Russian companies are looking to invest in natural gas exploration off the island’s south coast, where a large mineral deposit has already been discovered.

Bill for normal trade with Russia meets opposition

A Senate plan to lift Cold War restrictions on trade with Russia drew immediate resistance from Senate Republicans who said Congress must first address Russia's poor human rights record and existing economic and political policies.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., on Tuesday introduced bipartisan legislation to normalize trade relations with Russia by repealing the 1974 Jackson-Vanik act that tied trade with the then-Soviet Union to Moscow's allowing Jews and other minorities to leave the country.

The repeal of Jackson-Vanik is necessary if U.S. businesses are to enjoy the lower tariffs and increased access to Russian markets that will become available when Russia joins the World Trade Organization this summer. Supporters of normalized trade said it could lead to a doubling of U.S. exports to Russia.

"Jackson-Vanik served its purpose during the Cold War, but it's a relic of another era that now stands in the way of our farmers, ranchers and businesses pursuing opportunities to grow and create jobs," Baucus said in a statement.
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But eight Finance Committee Republicans, led by ranking Republican Orrin Hatch of Utah, wrote a letter to Baucus saying that Congress cannot ignore ongoing issues with Russia in moving to normalize trade relations.

"Many aspects of the U.S.-Russia relationship are troubling," they said, naming the "flawed election and illegitimate regime of Vladimir Putin," the suppression of public protests, Russia's support for the Syrian government and its threats to attack U.S.-led NATO missile defense sites in Eastern Europe. The letter also raised Russia's theft of U.S. intellectual property and its pervasive problems with bribery and corruption and questioned whether Russia would comply if the WTO handed down adverse rulings on its economic policies.

House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., on Tuesday, responding to reports that Russia was selling attack helicopters to Syria, said the administration's "string of concessions to Moscow must stop, including the latest effort to repeal the Jackson-Vanik amendment to give Russia preferential trade benefits."

Hooligan clashes in Poland leave 15 injured

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Violent clashes between Russia and Poland soccer hooligans left at least 15 injured before a soccer match between the bitter rivals.

Police later fired rubber bullets at a group of fans who attacked them in a separate incident near an outdoor fan zone while watching the emotionally charged match between the bitter rivals. The game ended in a 1-1 draw and the day was considered a huge security challenge, with police bracing for possibly more trouble after the match.

More than 100 people were detained throughout the day, police said. None of the injured, which included a police officer, were in a life-threatening condition.

About 5,000 Russia fans marched to the match at the National Stadium in Warsaw to celebrate the Russia Day national holiday. It was seen as provocative to many Poles. The two countries share a difficult history, including decades of control by Moscow over Poland during the Cold War. Many Poles felt the Polish authorities should not have allowed the Russians to march as a group in Warsaw given the historical wounds.

The most violent incident occurred during the march. Polish hooligans attacked Russians, who responded violently. The two sides, made up of dozens of men, kicked and beat each other in the face, while flares could be seen exploding in their midst.

Associated Press journalists saw several people lying injured and bleeding on the ground, with one of them appearing to be seriously hurt. Poland and Russia fans were also seen fighting and throwing stones outside the stadium.

During the match, new fighting apparently unrelated to nationalist tensions broke out among Polish fans near a fan zone in the center of the city. Polish police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at a group of young Poles who attacked them with bottles near a fan zone where about 100,000 people were watching the game on huge screens.

Female One-Star General to Serve in Russia’s Defense Ministry

MOSCOW, June 12 (RIA Novosti)

A female staffer in Russia’s Defense Ministry has received a promotion to become the ministry’s sole female general, following a decree by the country’s supreme commander posted on the Kremlin website on Tuesday.

“To assign the rank of a major general to Knyazeva, Yelena Georgiyevna,” the presidential decree said.

Colonel Knyazeva worked as acting head of the ministry’s main department for international military cooperation in 2010-2011 and now holds the post of the department deputy head.

Tiny Montenegro on track to join NATO

GRAFENWÖHR, Germany — Blink, and you might miss the armed forces of Montenegro.

With about 2,000 servicemembers, little armor and a navy of old frigates, the tiny Balkan country seems an unlikely candidate to bolster the world’s most powerful military alliance.

Yet with help from the U.S. and a small deployment to Afghanistan, Montenegro is knocking on NATO’s door. Delegates at the alliance’s Chicago summit last month applauded the country’s progress and encouraged it to continue on the right path.

How can such a tiny force contribute to NATO and what does the alliance gain from investing in such countries with seemingly little to offer?

Montenegro’s bid is less about military might than building alliances and encouraging stability, experts say.

'Ukraine Has Not Yet Perished'

The spotlight hasn't always been kind to Ukraine as it hosts the Euro 2012 soccer championships, with international headlines drawing new attention to everything from Eastern European racism to the plight of jailed former leader Yulia Tymoshenko.

But on Monday, the start of the first Ukrainian game in the tournament highlighted the country's seemingly pessimistic anthem: “Ukraine Has Not Yet Perished.” The phrase started trending on Twitter shortly after the game began, as amused soccer fans joked that the Ukrainian anthem was somewhat short of uplifting.

"Saturday Night Live" comedian Seth Meyers quipped in one tweet, “The only way to make 'Ukraine Has Not Yet Perished' a more pessimistic anthem title would be 'Ukraine Has Not Perished (Yet).' "

The anthem, which comes from a 19th century patriotic poem written by Pavlo Chubynsky, begins, “Ukraine’s glory hasn’t perished, nor her freedom / Upon us, fellow compatriots, fate shall smile once more.” Though the impassioned lyrics have endured as a reminder of the nation's turbulent history and eventual independence, some Ukrainians lament that the words are dour and outdated.

Four years ago, the Kiev Post reported that musician Oleh Skrypka came up with an alternative version that replaced the opening lines with the cheerier, “Our dear Ukraine is flourishing like a spring field / We are glorious Ukrainians / We’ve got a happy fate.” Earlier this year, Ukrainian lawmakers reportedly weighed replacing the anthem with "Thank God Ukraine Has Justice and Freedom."

“Ukraine fought hard for its independence and Ukrainians have been killed in endless wars. But today, thank God, it is a peaceful country. It is time to put it in good order. And we must do it with God in our hearts,” lawmaker Dmytro Vetvitsky was quoted in Russian media as saying.

Despite repeated attempts to replace it, "Ukraine Has Not Yet Perished" has not perished. Neither, for that matter, has the anthem of its championship co-host Poland -- "Poland Is Not Yet Lost."

A French Open Title and a Career Grand Slam for Sharapova

PARIS — Ever since shoulder surgery nearly forced Maria Sharapovainto early retirement, she occupied an odd space in both tennis and the wider world of sports. She remained among the most marketable female athletes on the planet, tall and blond and famous, a superstar in every sense except the most important one.

The gap between her game and her fame closed considerably Saturday, closed by virtue of another one-sided affair that left her knees down and crying on the clay, then bounding into the stands, where she hugged her entourage and kissed not one but two babies. After Sharapova dismantled Sara Errani of Italy, 6-3, 6-2, she held aloft the silver French Openchampionship trophy, for her the most elusive of the major championships.

Euro 2012: Racist Abuse of Dutch Players in Poland Clouds Soccer Tournament

After a visit to Auschwitz, the Dutch soccer team experiences racist jeering from local Polish fans. But will Euro 2012's organizers really crack down on bigotry at Europe's most high profile tournament?

Dutch captain Mark Van Bommel was appalled: Just one day after he and his players had made an emotional pilgrimage to Auschwitz, they were targeted by the same vile racism that the Nazi death camp’s architects used to rationalize their crimes—the dehumanizing people they deemed the “other.” As Holland’s players jogged out for a training session in front of 25,000 people in a stadium at Wroclaw on Thursday, black players like fullback Gregory van der Wiel and midfield enforcer Nigel De Jong were targeted by a section of the crowd making monkey noises — a signature gesture of racists populating Europe’s stadiums.
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Needless to say, UEFA would rather the problem would go away and not spoil its showcase. But there have been sufficient indications that racist and neo-Nazi fans plan to make themselves heard that the European federation has had to plan for the probability of having to deal with incidents of racism in the crowd.

Russia and China eye role in Afghanistan and Pakistan

As United States troops prepare to leave Afghanistan in 2014, a major regional shift is underway.

With the prospect of a decline in US influence in the region in sight, Russia and China are reaching out to Pakistan and Afghanistan in a bid to improve economic ties and to secure their southern borders against the spread of Islamic fundamentalism.

The presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan, Hamid Karzai and Asif Ali Zardari, are in Beijing this week for the summit meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which is led by China and Russia.
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Both China and Russia will be happy to see US troops leave Afghanistan, but they are equally worried about the Taliban and other extremist groups penetrating Xinjiang province in southern China and the Central Asian republics, whose national security is very much in the hands of Russia.
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Russia's envoy Zamir Kabulov, who has long experience with the Pakistani military's backing of Islamic fundamentalist groups (he served in the Soviet embassy in Kabul in the 1980s), raised this issue with the Pakistani government.

Russia sees itself as the guardian of the Central Asian republics and although it is anxious to see an end to US bases in that region, its resumption of the sole security role in Central Asia will depend on how Pakistan deals with such extremist groups.

If Pakistan can take steps against home-grown extremism, it will do much to convince Russia and China that it deserves help to move out of the American orbit.

Global arms spending flat in 2011

World military spending failed to rise last year for the first time since 1998 in what could herald a major trend break, but the global nuclear threat remains strong, think tank SIPRI said Monday.

As the global economic crisis cuts into defence spending, conflicts around the world are also becoming smaller, shorter and less deadly, and the number of wars between states are at historically low levels, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said.
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World military expenditure in 2011 was essentially flat at $1.73 trillion -- an increase of just 0.3 percent from 2010 -- representing 2.5 percent of global gross domestic product or $249 per person, SIPRI said in a report.

"However, it is still too early to say whether this means that world military expenditure has finally peaked," the think tank wrote.

Nuclear arsenals declined last year, the report said, as the United States and Russia further reduced their inventories of strategic nuclear weapons.

At the start of 2012, eight countries -- Britain, China, India, Israel, France, Pakistan, Russia and the United States -- held some 19,000 nuclear warheads, compared to 20,530 at the start of 2011, it said.

However, long-term modernisation programmes under way in nuclear states "suggest that nuclear weapons are still a currency of international status and power," SIPRI researcher Shannon Kile said.
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"We have witnessed the practical disappearance of wars between states -- with numbers at a historically low level," armed conflict researcher Neil Melvin told AFP.

Nowadays, "violence emerges within states, escalating from political opposition to civil wars," as in Libya and "it seems we are reaching that point with Syria," Melvin said.

Finally, the think tank said the Arab Spring demonstrated the growing complexity of armed conflict.

Several Civilians Wounded in NATO Attack on Northern Kosovo

Troops Attacked Civilian Protesters 'in Self-Defense' Officials Insist

by Jason Ditz, June 01, 2012

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At least five ethnic Serbian civilians and two NATO soldiers were wounded today when NATO forces moved against protesters who had set up a roadblock in northern Kosovo. NATO started with tear gas and rubber bullets, and eventually resorted to live rounds against the protesters, who responded with pistol fire.

The roadblocks issue has been going on since last fall, when the Kosovo government banned all trade with neighboring Serbia and sent NATO troops to the border to ensure that ethnic Serbs were no longer able to ship goods out of the nation. The Serbs responded with roadblocks along the supply routes in protest, and have rebuilt as fast as NATO could destroy them.

This has apparently convinced NATO that instead of simply removing the roadblocks, they also have to attack any protests they see, and officials insisted that today’s attack was “in self-defense,” adding that they “have the authority to use deadly force on anyone who throws a stone.”

Kosovar Serbs have overwhelmingly rejected the NATO-backed regime, and have sought to rejoin Serbia. NATO has insisted that they will never allow this, and that Kosovo, which they carved out of Serbia in an invasion, would retain its “territorial ondependece.

Russian Church Is a Strong Voice Opposing Intervention in Syria

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But Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the patriarchate’s department of external church relations, did not ask for money. The issue of “Christianophobia” shot to the top of the church’s agenda a year ago, with a statement warning that “they are killing our brothers and sisters, driving them from their homes, separating them from their near and dear, stripping them of the right to confess their religious beliefs.” The metropolitan asked Mr. Putin to promise to protect Christian minorities in the Middle East.

“So it will be,” Mr. Putin said. “There is no doubt at all.”

Uncertain World: Will Russia Become Part of the West?
Fyodor Lukyanov

Let’s put questions of diplomatic routine aside and confront the fundamental question here: will Russia ever become part of the West? This was the dream of the first generation of Russian reformers and liberals at the dawn of the 1990s, and it was what Putin sought (in a quite different way) in the early 2000s. It is generally believed that this is and has always been Moscow’s choice. The doors are open for at least a close partnership, if not full-scale membership in the EU and NATO on the basis of common values. Debates always focused on Russia’s willingness. Can Russia truly adopt the Western worldview? Does Russia meet the high standards for membership?

But while Russia was weighing answers to these questions, the West was embarking on a surprising metamorphosis. The West has essentially begun to disappear as a coherent political entity, an ideological and moral yardstick and an economic model to emulate. And now the question is less whether the West is prepared to accept Russia with all its shortcomings, but whether Russia should enter this community of states that has failed to cope with the burden of its historic victory in the Cold War. Moreover, the center of global politics and the global economy has already shifted to Asia.

That being said, both questions should be answered in the affirmative. Russia simply has no alternative to the West. Culturally, psychologically and historically it has always been part of the Western world, despite its many unique features. Nobody in Asia thinks of Russia as an Asian power, even though three quarters of its territory are located in Asia (but three quarters of Russia’s population live in its European part). The development of the Russian Far East and Siberia, which is critical for the country, is impossible unless these regions closely integrate with the rapidly growing Asian economy. But this can only be achieved if Russia maintains and consolidates its European identity.
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Obstacles on the way toward integration that have been mentioned in the past 20 years are disappearing on their own. The EU, whose tough rules and standards prevented it from drawing closer to Russia, is falling apart. It will have to change drastically, revise its principles of coexistence and even its integration model. This creates an opportunity for cooperation with Russia. Previously, Moscow was merely offered the chance to adopt an enormous code of rules. This did not suit Russia, as it was used to the status of a sovereign great power.

But these are all assumptions based on the expectation that political players will follow rational considerations and act expediently. However, modern politics is full of examples of leading players making colossal blunders – either out of arrogance, complexes, dogma or misunderstanding one’s own interests.

The unpredictable, rapid changes that characterize global politics in the 21st century are accompanied by the unexpected reawakening of instincts from a distant past, in which relations between countries can backslide into old-fashioned realpolitik and considerations of prestige can override all else.

The defining characteristic of the transitional period in which we live is uncertainty. We know not where we are headed – forward, to a new political morality, or backward, to ossified principles enforced by high-tech weapons. Anything is possible at this point.