Mitt and Lech

Romney's world tour hasn't been the most auspicious, rankling Brits with the comments he made about the Olympics, angering Palestinians over the comments he made in Israel, and turning off Pols with his attacks on trade unions.  But, he seems to have won Lech Walesa's heart,

Mr Romney was met in Gdansk by Mr Walesa - Solidarity's first leader and Poland's first democratically-elected president - and by Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

"He's very open, and brimming with values, his wife is always by his side, he's got five kids -- we're very much alike, I really like him and am pleased we met," Mr Walesa told reporters.

But the trade union movement, which originated in Gdansk and toppled Poland's communist regime in the late 1980s, said it had nothing to do with Mr Romney's trip to the city.

"Regretfully, we were informed by our friends from the American headquarters of AFL-CIO (trade union in the US), which represents more than 12 million employees... that Mitt Romney supported attacks on trade unions and employees' rights," Solidarity said in a statement.

Mr Walesa and Solidarity have not seen eye to eye for some years.

read more

Pussy Riot Apologize, Plead Not Guilty

MOSCOW, July 30 (RIA Novosti)

Members of the female band Pussy Riot have called their “punk prayer” performed at a Christian church an “ethical mistake,” but pleaded not guilty to charges of hooliganism that can land them in prison for seven years.

“We never said anything insulting to the believers, the church or God,” group member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova said in a statement read out loud by the defense at the Pussy Riot trial in Moscow on Monday.

The group expected its political performance to be viewed as ironic, Tolokonnikova said, adding that “perhaps we had no right to invade the ritual space.”

The group staged its performance in the altar zone of Christ the Savior Cathedral only because its members were unaware of church rules, fellow band member Maria Alyokhina said.

The Not So Secret Life of Anna Chapman

I thought that was Anna Chapman on Secrets of the World, a Russian version of the old American series, In Search Of, with Leonard Nimoy.  Anna plays a pretty small role in the series.  It is mostly a menacing voice trying to connect loose strands provided by dubious experts on everything from the Illuminati to vast underground cities into elaborate conspiracy theories.  Suffice it to say that dear Anna seems to be enjoying life after her brief stint as a spy.

I Don't Want To Be Sedated

Five members of the band called Pussy Riot were detained in February after they performed an anti-Putin song, jumping up and down at the altar of Moscow's Christ the Savior Church. The group, clad in their trademark colored balaclavas and spandex outfits, sang about a divine intervention that would remove President Vladimir Putin from power.

Three members of the group have been held in jail without a trial ever since. Officials recently announced their pre-trial detention has been extended until 2013. They face charges of "hooliganism on the grounds of religious hatred," which could result in up to seven years in prison.

Figure With Ties to Milosevic Is Set to Become Serbia’s Premier

The wartime spokesman for Slobodan Milosevic’s party will be sworn in as prime minister of Serbia on Thursday, officials said, stoking international concerns that Serbia will abandon its European path and return to the nationalism of the past.
.....
Although Mr. Dacic and Mr. Nikolic say they have left nationalism behind and have embraced the European Union, the new coalition government will need to convince skeptics that it does not intend to forsake the West for closer ties with Moscow. Mr. Nikolic once said that Serbia would be better off as a province of Russia than as a member of the European Union.

Like much of Europe, Serbia faces economic challenges, including 25 percent unemployment, rising inflation, a weak currency and woefully low incomes for workers. A headline published online last week by B92, a Serbian broadcaster, lamented that “10,000 Serbian Children Eat Only One Meal Per Day.”

While top economic posts in the new government are to be held by supporters of free-market economics, some voices in the coalition have been calling for radical steps like breaking with the International Monetary Fund, which froze a $1.2 billion precautionary loan to Serbia in February over concerns about overspending and spiraling public debt. Rather than adopt harsh austerity, some analysts say, the new government may seek a loan from Russia.
.....
Serbia has refused to recognize the independence of Kosovo, a former Serbian province that broke away in 2008, taking with it territory that Serbia cherishes as its medieval heartland, though it is now populated largely by ethnic Albanians. Mr. Dacic gave signs in Berlin recently that he was open to improving ties with Kosovo, but he has also discussed a partitioning of the new country as a possible solution to tensions there.

Oligarch v. Oligarch: London's Courts Attract Litigious Tycoons

Berezovsky v. Abramovich is the highest-profile (and highest-paying) case to date in a London legal trend that only seems to keep gaining steam. An estimated 60 percent of the cases in England's commercial and chancery courts now have ties to Russia or other former Soviet bloc countries--including many that involve oligarchs like Abramovich and Berezovsky, who have long-standing grudges and are making London their arena of choice in which to battle things out. English lawyers like to point out that their courts are incorruptible, in contrast to a Russian system that is often described as being open to influence, both political and financial, especially where the biggest fish are concerned. But it also seems to be a sort of fashion statement among oligarchs these days. "It's almost like a designer tie," says Brian Zimbler, one of the longest-practicing Western lawyers in Moscow. "These oligarchs like to dress well, they like fancy cars, they have houses in the south of France. And if there are lawsuits, they like them to be in the London courts."

The London legal scene has been happy to oblige. Competition for oligarch clients is fierce, and the firms who win them are raking in record fees. (The fee for Abramovich's lead counsel is rumored to be between $4.7 million and $15 million, an astronomical price tag even at the lower end.) Meanwhile, booming cottage industries have sprung up for things like Russian court translators and paralegals specializing in Russian law. This has been a boon to a struggling economy that has seen law as one of the few sources of growth-legal services accounted for 1.8 percent of Britain's GDP in 2009.
.....
And so oligarchs in London must stay on the alert for writs, on occasion from one another. ("Sometimes oligarchs try to serve other oligarchs," one CIS lawyer in London says.) Private investigators are employed to track oligarchs' time in London, in hopes of making the case for residency, which allows jurisdiction in English courts-by British standards, just a few weeks in town annually can be enough to make the case. Even divorce lawyers in on the CIS game. This promises more high-profile cases on the way, often featuring the headline-grabbing marriage of brass-knuckle Russian businessmen and the British high society scene. "The docket looks full for years to come," Shaw says.
.....
Rupert D'Cruz, who is secretary of the British-Russian Law Association and is one of England's top experts on CIS cases, says the English courts, with their long history of settling complex international disputes, are uniquely suited to handle convoluted cases like the oligarchs battles, which are often based on handshake agreements-saunas are said to be the Russian equivalent to the golf course for sealing deals. "It's often done on trust," he says. "And when things go wrong there is a great problem of putting together the jigsaw of who said what, and what was agreed."
.....
The big guys often aren't used to playing nice, which can make things tough for lawyers. London CIS specialists report working on cases where they suspect the key documents are forged, and where clients have to be reminded that they can't try to buy the judge. Often they worry that their offices are bugged. Adam Greaves, a lawyer in London who has tried a long line of high-profile CIS cases, says he's had clients with bullet wounds and knife scars, including one who had an old wound running all the way up his neck. Cases have been filled with tales of things like illegal share dilutions and staged bankruptcies. "You've got to hand it to the Russians. They know how to develop a convoluted fraud," he says.

The oligarchs also are used to getting what they want, and not afraid to take grudges against their opponents as far as they can, sometimes happy to tarnish a rival's reputation even if it means hurting their own case. "They are generally extremely aggressive litigators. They don't take no for an answer," Greaves says. "They will litigate every point, including bad ones, and frequently against your advice-either to spill out information, or cause the other side grief, or make spurious or defamatory statements."

United Nations secretary-general arrives in Serbia

Ban is holding separate talks with Jeremić - who will in September take over as UN General Assembly chair - and Serbian President Tomislav Nikolić and, PM-designate Ivica Dačić.

In Ban's talks with Serbian officials, special emphasis is expected to be placed on Kosovo, where the UN secretary-general will visit the members of the UN mission and meet with officials of the government in Priština.. 

While in Kosovo, Ban will also visit the medieval Serb Orthodox monastery of Visoki (High) Dečani, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. He will also travel to the town of Prizren. 

Ban's tour of the Balkans started on July 20, and he has so far visited Slovenia, Croatia, and Montenegro. After Belgrade and Priština, the UN chief will travel to Macedonia, and then Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Officials in southern Russia held over floods

Russian police have arrested three officials in the southern Krymsk region accused of failing to warn residents of disastrous flooding earlier this month.

The former head of Krymsk district, who had already been fired for his handling of the floods, and the mayor of Krymsk town are among those held.

The floods claimed the lives of 171 people, mostly in the town of Krymsk.
.....
"Essentially ignoring the weather service forecasts, the suspects did not inform the population about the looming danger and did not take steps to evacuate people," spokesman for the Investigative Committee said to Russian TV, according to the AFP news agency.

The floods were the first major disaster of President Vladimir Putin's third term in office, and federal authorities have been eager to show they are heeding criticism of the official response, which has been voiced even in normally pro-government media outlets.

Echoes of 1878

The Balkans Game, Then and Now
by Nebojsa Malic, July 20, 2012

"The Balkans of today is a product of Imperial intervention, created and maintained by force, deception and propaganda. Those who served Empire’s purposes – e.g. Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, the Albanians or the Bosnian Muslims – feel they should have gained more in the bargain. The Serbs, who lost out at every turn, aren’t willing to concede any more. None are happy with the status quo. Yet the Empire persists in efforts to make it final."

Punk Band Feels Wrath of a Sterner Kremlin

MOSCOW — When four young women in balaclavas performed a crude anti-Putin song on the altar of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in February, it seemed like just one more episode in a season of audacious, absurdist and occasionally offensive protest.

Instead, the case of the young punk rockers, whose group is called Pussy Riot, is becoming a bellwether event in the Russian capital, signaling an end to the chilly tolerance the Kremlin displayed in response to the winter’s large demonstrations.

The three women arrested after the performance have been held in custody for more than four months, a term that was extended on Friday by six months, through next January. They could be sent to prison for seven years.

Preliminary hearings in the case offered some of the most striking courtroom images since the trial of Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky, which took place in the same building. While that case tested Russians’ feelings toward a billionaire businessman, this one picks as its targets slender young women with hooded sweatshirts and Twitter accounts — avatars of the protest movement itself.
.....
The government picked a ripe opportunity to crack down, since many Russians found the cathedral performance offensive. It took months for the case to provoke support for the women, even in the opposition-minded city of Moscow. But the balance seemed to shift last month, when a roster of famous artists and musicians, including some vocal supporters of Mr. Putin, signed a petition contending that the case “compromises the Russian judicial system and undermines trust in the authorities.”

Serb leaders from northern Kosovo send open letter to Ban

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA -- Heads of the four north Kosovo municipalities sent on Thursday an open letter to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon ahead of his tour of the region.

In it, they underlined that the entire Serb community and the four Serb municipalities in the northern part of the province are at serious risk, and that in the process of finding a solution for the Kosovo issue, the UN and UN SC Resolution 1244 must not be circumvented.

Taking into account numerous killings, incidents and pressures, the security situation in Kosovo and Metohija gives a cause for concern, the letter reads, adding that the lives, human rights and freedoms of members of the Serb ethnic community are at particular risk.

Underscoring that in the last 13 years, more than a thousand Serbs were killed, while tens of thousands Serb houses and apartments are still usurped, or were burnt down or demolished, four municipal presidents claim that several hundred thousand Albanians still possess arms, and that they have not been disarmed as was stipulated in UN SC Resolution 1244.

“The fact that more than a thousand (ethnic) Albanians, who committed murders and serous crimes against Serbs, have the full freedom of movement and take part in the political life, as they have not been prosecuted, is yet another cause for concern,” the letter reads.
.....
Together with Albanian leaders from Priština, certain international actors and power centers intend to the complete the project of Kosovo's independence by using force, the letter adds.

Inquiry Seeks Accomplices of Bomber in Bulgaria

BURGAS, Bulgaria — Police officers fanned out across the tranquil beach towns here on the Black Sea on Friday, searching for clues to the identity of the bomber who blew up a bus filled with Israeli tourists on Wednesday, focusing new attention on his possible accomplice or accomplices.

Bulgaria’s interior minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, said at a news conference Friday that investigators had determined that the suicide bomber, who died along with five Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian bus driver, was a foreigner. He later told state television that the attacker used nearly seven pounds of TNT to build his bomb.

“He couldn’t have been alone, a person alone in an unknown country,” said a senior Bulgarian official familiar with the investigation. “We believe it took at least a week to organize.”
.....
Micky Rosenfeld, a spokesman for the Israeli police, said a team of eight forensics officers had spent about 12 hours at the site in Burgas. They returned late Thursday night with “a lot of evidence,” Mr. Rosenfeld said, which they are giving to Israeli and other security agencies.

The Bulgarian Interior Ministry said in a statement that experts from France, the United States and Switzerland working for Interpol were expected to arrive here on Friday. At the news conference in Burgas on Friday, Mr. Tsvetanov said investigators would have to sift through “more than 100 bags” of evidence gathered from the crime scene to determine the full picture of the attack before details could be made public. The investigation is painstaking work, he said, noting that the remains of the bomber were dispersed “in a 50-60-meter perimeter,” or up to nearly 200 feet.

The intensity of the investigation reflected not only the severity of the crime, but its international significance. Israel immediately blamed Iran and its surrogate, Hezbollah, a charge Iran denied. American officials speaking on the condition of anonymity identified the suicide bomber as a member of a Hezbollah cell operating in Bulgaria.

Finland Rejects Talk of Euro Exit After Backing Spain Rescue

Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen dismissed speculation his government is considering dropping the euro should the debt crisis deepen after the Nordic nation’s parliament agreed to back a Spanish bank bailout.

“We will not and do not consider exiting the euro,” the premier said today in an interview in Helsinki. “We want to be at the heart of European development. A stronger euro, a better euro is the only, and reasonable, thing for Finland.”

Finland’s demand that bailouts come with strict terms such as austerity and burden sharing, coupled with Katainen’s rejection of common bonds, has prompted economists including Nouriel Roubini to suggest the nation may ultimately quit the euro in protest.
.....
Finland, which saw the anti-bailout party the “The Finns” become the third-biggest in elections in 2011, also demanded collateral to back a second bailout for Greece last year. It was not an easy decision to back Spain, Katainen said.

“It was a necessary decision to take, even though it’s very hard,” he said. “It’s unpopular, but we have to take responsible moves and steps because the economic situation is so challenging.”

Turkey: Syria Crisis Causes Russian Relations to Suffer

Although Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan brought his energy minister along on a one-day visit July 18 to Moscow, it’s safe to assume that rather than oil and gas prices, the question of how to resolve the crisis in Syria dominated the discussion between Erdogan and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.

.....
“I think that the Syria crisis – in conjunction with other issues such as Cyprus, NATO missile defense and pipeline politics, all of which put Turkey against Russia – is going to erode substantially the amity between the two countries,” added Blank. [Editor’s Note: Blank contributes occasional commentaries to EurasiaNet].

Just a few months ago, many Turks had good reason to believe their country and Russia were heading toward a golden age in their relations, which had for decades been dominated by the divisions of the Cold War. As one overly optimistic Turkish paper described it only this past January, Turkey was “now a strategic partner of Moscow.”

Business between the two counties has boomed in the last decade, with Russia now representing Turkey’s largest trade partner. Between 2001 and 2011, Turkish exports to Russia grew 548 percent, from $0.9 billion to $5.9 billion, while Russian exports to Turkey – mostly gas and oil – increased almost 600 percent, rising from $3.4 billion to $23.9 billion.
.....
“There was always the hope in Moscow that they could somehow woo Turkey and exploit the rift between Turkey and the United States and the EU. I think Moscow was pretty shocked when Turkey came on board in Libya,” says Fiona Hill, an expert on Russia at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC.

Indeed, since the NATO-led operation in Libya last year, Turkey’s ties with the Atlantic Alliance – as well as with Washington – have deepened. Ankara’s role in NATO has become more prominent, particularly with regards to the deteriorating situation in Syria. Like it or not, Ankara may find that it and Moscow are again standing on opposite sides of what should be familiar ideological and geopolitical fault-lines.

Shots fired as Russia detains Chinese fishing ships

(CNN) -- The Russian coast guard seized two Chinese vessels and detained 36 fishermen Tuesday after they were allegedly found fishing in Russian-controlled waters in the Sea of Japan, according to state media

Warning shots were fired at one vessel during a three-hour pursuit by Russian Coast Guard, which eventually rammed the vessel and soldiers fired directly on the ship when sailors resisted being boarded, according to Russia's state-run RIA Novosti news agency.
.....
An editorial in China's People's Daily condemned the firing on the vessel, calling the move "reckless."

"In 1983, the Soviet Union shot down a Korean Air Lines Boeing 747 civilian airliner. Now Russia, for at least the second time, has fired on a Chinese civilian ship. Such conduct will stay in the memory of people in Northeast Asia," the editorial said. "The aggressive behavior by some Russians at the grass-roots level not only harms Chinese confidence in fostering a long-term friendship with Russia, but also provides excuses for forces seeking to undermine China-Russia ties."

In Trade Deal With Russia, U.S. Plans Sanctions for Human Rights Abuses

By PETER BAKER

Published: July 17, 2012

WASHINGTON — In the two decades since the end of the cold war, the United States has extended its economic reach to the far corners of the old Communist world, establishing full-fledged trade ties with the likes of Ukraine, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. Even still-Communist nations like China and Vietnam have been granted full trading status. But not Russia.

That seems about to change. For the first time since the fall of the Soviet Union, a bipartisan coalition in Congress has agreed to normalize trade relations with Russia, the onetime adversary in the long struggle between capitalism and communism. But at a time of renewed tension with Moscow, lawmakers have decided to grant the status with one large caveat — that Russian officials be held responsible for human rights abuses.

Russian base in Tajikistan to remain for 49 more years

Tajikistan has agreed on the Russian version of an agreement on the deployment of the 201st military base on its territory. After 2014, the base will remain in Tajikistan without compensation. After the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan, the Russian base will be a guarantor of security for the republic from threats from the south.
.....
For Russia, the military base in Tajikistan is first and foremost a guarantee of its own security. China is also following in similar footsteps and planning to set up a base in Pakistan. When NATO contingent leaves Afghanistan in 2014, a war might break out in the region with renewed vigor and will easily spread to the neighboring countries, says a fellow at the Institute of World Economics and International Relations, Alexander Krylov.

This base is very important for Russia because it is located near the Afghan border and assures security at its outer approaches. After the U.S. pullout from Afghanistan, the situation in the region will worsen radically. It’s crucial for Russia to have means to respond to new challenges. The radical Islamists might try to cross the Afghan border. In these circumstances, the Collective Security Treaty Organization and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization can play the role of containing buffer which will stabilize the situation. The Russian military presence at the borders of the former Soviet Union will be a stabilizing factor. Not only Afghanistan, but also Iraq, Syria and Kurdistan will be the territory of a large war in the future. We are monitoring a single zone of instability and fighting the outcome of which is unpredictable,” Alexander Krylov said.

Russia lays charges over journalist's murder

Russia has charged a retired policeman with organising the 2006 murder of newspaper reporter Anna Politkovskaya amid an investigation that has been criticised in the West for taking too long.
.....
The Investigative Committee said on Monday it now believed that top former Moscow policeman Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov helped organise Politkovskaya's murder and helped track her movements for months.

The former head of the Moscow police surveillance department was arrested on August 23 and has since faced a series of different charges while continuing to deny all responsibility.

"Between July and September 2000, Pavlyuchenkov established the victim's place of residence, the route she takes [home], and reported this information to other members of the organised crime group," the committee said in a statement.

"Moreover, he obtained the weapon and ammunition that were later used in the killing," the statement added.

Metropolitan hopes “NATO will break up”

PODGORICA -- Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral Amfilohije once again said he was against Montenegro joining NATO

 “I hope to god that Montenegro will not join NATO that bombed us,” he told Podgorica-based daily Dan. 

Amfilohije believes that Montenegro would by joining the EU become a link in the military organization that “exerts violence on the entire world”. 


Russian Ship Tries Again to Return Syrian Helicopters

by Jason Ditz, July 12, 2012

The Russian cargo ship the Alaed has left Russian waters again on an attemptto deliver refurbished Syrian helicopters back to the Syrian military. The last shipping attempt failed after British officials, under US pressure, forced the revocation of their insurance.

The Alaed had been a Curucao-flagged ship, and British officials made a big deal of having given serious considerationto launching a naval attack on the ship and capturing it to prevent the return of the helicopters. It was at this point the insurance was pulled and the ship slunk back to Murmansk.

This time, things are different. The ship has been reflagged as a Russian ship and while still traveling as a private vessel it is trailing not far behind a flotillaof Russian naval ships headed to the same area on a “training” operation.

Being a Russian-flagged ship removes the insurance obstacle, and the close proximity of the flotilla presumably will prevent Britain from giving serious consideration to attacking it when it gets close to British waters.

Hidden in Afghanistan: Soviet Veterans of a Previous War Compare and Tremble

There are only a few of them left — deserters and MIAs of the huge Soviet Red Army divisions sent in to control Afghanistan. But they still remember how it all ended — and worry that the American war will end the same way

Even after three decades, Gennady Tseuma remembers the wavering call to prayer that went up clear over the hillside village. It floated out over the fields and river and pierced the early morning hush on the Bangi Bridge. Tseuma, then a Soviet soldier assigned to a small force guarding the river crossing in northern Afghanistan’s Kunduz province, recalls a feeling of dread when he heard the sound. Like many of the conscripts serving in the Red Army in Afghanistan, Tseuma was bored and undisciplined, and after 10 months of service, curiosity finally got the best of him.

The decision to investigate the call to prayer cost him the life he had known up to that point. “Our checkpoint was close to the village. Every morning the mullah did the call to prayer. It was totally new to me. I didn’t understand what was going on. I thought maybe they were killing people or something,” Tseuma tells TIME. “So, one day, early in the morning, I got off my base to take a look. When I got close to the mosque there was an old man sitting there. Then suddenly men with guns surrounded me and captured me. After that, the mujahedin told me to convert to Islam or they would kill me. I decided it was better to live than to die, so I became a Muslim.”

For the past 29 years, Tseuma and maybe around a hundred other Soviet POW/MIAs have lived through some of the most violent history of one of the most violent countries on earth. After serving in the European-style Soviet army, they lived and sometimes fought as Afghans. Those of them still alive have an extraordinary window into Afghan society combined with unique insight into the historical parallels between the Soviet defeat and the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces at the end of 2014.

Russia Sends Warships Toward Syria

The naval flotilla is a show of force and a reminder that Moscow will block any Western attempt to intervene against the Assad regime

by John Glaser, July 11, 2012

Russia has dispatched eleven warships to the eastern Mediterranean, some of which will dock in Syria, in Moscow’s latest attempt to display Russian power in the region and ward off a Western intervention in Syria.

About half of the ships are capable of carrying hundreds of Russian Marines, although its unknown if any forces are set to go ashore after docking at Russia’s naval base in Tartus.

The announcement came just one day after Russia officially said it would halt all new weapons sales to Syria. Russia has provide arms and backing to the regime of Bashar al-Assad throughout the 16-month long conflict.

Sending naval vessels, as Russia has done periodically throughout the past, seems an attempt to reassure the US and its allies that Moscow still plans to block any attempt to intervene militarily against the Assad regime.

Russia’s main concerns regarding Syria is that Washington will try to usher in regime change, and possibly military intervention, and exploit any political transition for their benefit, thus stamping out Russia’s valuable Middle Eastern ally.

UN envoy Kofi Annan said this month that while Russia has received a lot of criticism for continuing to back the violent President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, “very few things are said about other countries that send arms and money and weigh on the situation on the ground,” without naming any specific countries.

Foreign meddling on behalf of all sides has been instrumental in prolonging the conflict by emboldening both sides and making a political settlement more remote. But now Russia seems to be altering its posture to one of preventing any military intervention against Assad, instead of arming the regime as a proxy client. This position is more amenable to a resolution to the conflict, unlike the position of the US and its allies in arming and aiding the Syrian rebel fighters.

Journey by Sea Takes Awkward Turn in Russia

MOSCOW — It is hard to imagine who was more stunned: the team of adventurers who succeeded in crossing more than 50 miles of the Bering Strait’s frigid, treacherous swells to Russia from Alaska last week, or the Russian border patrol agents in an armored tank who watched them appear on shore, seemingly out of nowhere.

On Wednesday, the team of six men — shadowed by a Russian military helicopter — did an about-face and returned to the Alaskan coast after spending four days in detention in Lavrentiya, a remote village in the Chukotka region.

The six, led by Steven Moll, 41, of Folsom, Calif., had hoped that after reaching Chukotka in the Russian Far East, they could continue south for 5,000 more miles to Taiwan.

Each of the six rode a 2008 GTX, 215-horsepower Sea-Doo made by the Canadian company Bombardier that carried enough gasoline for a 250-mile trip. They had planned to buy more fuel at stops along Russia’s vast eastern coast.

But what seemed like a well-scripted stunt hit a snag when the headlights from the watercraft sent Russian border agents into high alert. Much of the Russian coastal region is designated as a prohibited military zone.
.....
Chukotka has proved a formidable obstacle to would-be world travelers before. In 2006 Karl Bushby, a Briton trying to circumnavigate the globe on foot, walked across the frozen Bering Strait into the region and was arrested for failing to register with the Russian authorities after coming ashore. On Wednesday, after their release from custody but expulsion from Russia, the team made a six-hour cannonball run back across the Strait, whose waves can reach a height of 20 feet or more.

Russian Warships Sent on Maneuvers Near Syria

MOSCOW — Russia, which seems intent on positioning itself as an increasingly decisive broker in the Syrian crisis, announced on Tuesday that a flotilla of navy vessels had sailed to the Mediterranean Sea and some would dock in the Syrian port of Tartus. The naval group includes several landing craft with marines.

The voyage and naval maneuvers seemed designed to convey a message that Russian leaders would protect their interests in Syria, Russia’s most important relationship in the Middle East, even as they restrict new shipments of weapons to President Bashar al-Assad’s government until the conflict subsides, as military export officials had announced on Monday.
.....
Russian military officials have repeatedly hinted at a possible role in Syria for their naval power, diminished but still floating two decades after the Soviet collapse. The ships have been presented as a means either to evacuate Russian citizens or to secure the naval fueling station at Tartus, on the Syrian coast.

Though little more than a floating pier and small barracks, the site is Russia’s only remaining foreign military base outside the former Soviet Union. Any Russian presence on the coast would serve as a tripwire to prevent Western military intervention.

The statement by the Defense Ministry said ships had steamed from ports of the Northern and Black Sea fleets.

Russia Picks Politics Over Syria Arms Exports

Moscow’s announcement on Monday that it was refusing to make new arms sales to Syria came unexpectedly, after top Russian diplomats previously staunchly defended Russia’s right to supply arms to the embattled Assad regime.

“Until the situation stabilizes we will not deliver any new weapons” to Syria, Dzirkaln said at the Farnborough airshow in Britain. He said this included, in particular, the 36 Yak-130 combat training aircraft that Syria was intending to purchase for a total price of $550 million.

From the onset of the conflict in Syria last spring, Russian Foreign Ministry and political leadership has persistently maintained that Moscow’s arms shipments do not violate any international laws and will be continued.

Putin Says Russia to Prioritize India, China

Russia intends to maintain special cooperation with the emerging powers of China and India, President Vladimir Putin said on Monday at a gathering of Russia's top diplomats and foreign representatives.

"Our cooperation with China has the most important strategic and practical importance," Putin said. "We intend to pay special attention to deepening all forms of cooperation with our Chinese partners including coordination of our actions in the agenda of international affairs," he added.

"This also applies to other rapidly developing and increasingly politically important Asian states, including foremost our traditional partner and friend India," Putin said.
.....
"The June summit with the EU confirmed the priority character of Russian-European strategic dialog," he said. "At the same time, the level of cooperation with the EU in our view, has not reached its full potential,"he said.

Russia's Putin says the West is on the decline

(Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Monday the West's influence was waning as its economy declines but warned Russian diplomats to be on their guard against a backlash from Moscow's former Cold War enemies.

In a biennial speech to Russian ambassadors, Putin also took a shot at the West by condemning any unilateral actions to solve international disputes and underlined the importance of resolving such conflicts through the United Nations.
.....
"Domestic socio-economic problems that have become worse in industrialized countries as a result of the (economic) crisis are weakening the dominant role of the so-called historical West," Putin told a meeting of Russian ambassadors from across the world.
.....
Putin reiterated accusations that the West is engaging in unilateral diplomacy outside the United Nations to maintain influence in world politics, and implied again that the West was behind the Arab Spring revolutions.

"We are seeing attempts by individual players in the international community to keep the influence they are used to by which our partners often use unilateral actions that contradict international law," he said.

"This can be seen from the so-called humanitarian operations ... and intervention in internal conflicts."

Romania president impeached amid EU, US concern

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romanian lawmakers impeached President Traian Basescu in an overwhelming vote Friday, paving the way for a national referendum that could see the divisive and increasingly unpopular leader ousted from the powerful position he's held for eight years.

The vote of 256-114 in parliament came as Basescu and Prime Minister Victor Ponta have engaged in a bitter power struggle in the eastern European country of 19 million, which emerged from communism in 1989. The machinations, especially attempts to sideline the judiciary, have led the United States and the European Union to issue statements of concern about Romania's democracy.

Basescu's opponents accused him of overstepping his authority by meddling with the prime minister's office and trying to influence judicial affairs. The 60-year-old former ship captain also was accused of making racist remarks about Gypsies and disabled people.

Senate Speaker Crin Antonescu, who will serve as interim president now that Basescu has been effectively suspended from the role, said a popular referendum on Basescu's fate will be held July 29.

Clinton: "Friends of Syria" must unite to stop Russia, China "blockading" progress

(CBS/AP) PARIS - The United States and its international allies called Friday for new, global sanctions against President Bashar Assad's regime, stepping up the pressure after the defection of a top general dealt a major blow to the Syrian leader.

The question, explains CBS News State Department correspondent Margaret Brennan, is whether Russia and China will finally and completely sever the financial lifeline which is keeping Assad in power. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has said they've essentially given Assad a free pass by failing to implement sanctions and continuing to import Syrian oil.
.....
Clinton joined senior officials from about 100 other countries in Paris to win wider support for a Syrian transition plan unveiled last week by U.N. mediator Kofi Annan. Joined by America's allies, she called for "real and immediate consequences for non-compliance, including sanctions," against the Assad regime.

But with neither Moscow nor Beijing in attendance, much remained dependent on persuading the two reluctant U.N. veto-wielding powers to force Assad into abiding by a cease-fire and the transition strategy. Clinton urged governments around the world to direct their pressure toward Russia and China as well.

Ukraine Activists Protest Russia Language Bill

About 1,000 opposition activists were rallying in the capital of Ukraine on Thursday to protest legislation upgrading the status of the Russian language.

The Ukrainian parliament passed the bill Tuesday that would allow the use of Russian in courts, education and other government institutions in Russian-speaking regions of the country.

Members of Ukraine's pro-Western opposition say that such a law would effectively smother the Ukrainian language by removing any incentive for millions of Russian-speaking Ukrainians to learn it. They also say it would bring Ukraine back into the Russian orbit and torpedo its efforts to forge closer ties with the European Union.
.....
Lawmakers loyal to President Viktor Yanukovych, who draws his support from the Russian-speaking east and south, rushed the bill through the parliament, without giving the opposition much chance to oppose it in a debate. Parliament's speaker, whose signature on the bill is required before it is given to the president, resigned in protest.

Ukraine's jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko sent a message of support to the protesters from a prison in the country's east where she is serving a seven-year term for abuse of office.

From farms to factories, Russians wary of WTO

LENIN STATE FARM, Russia (AP) — Migrant workers, some stripped to their underwear in the sweltering heat, pick fragrant strawberries from the sprawling fields of Lenin State Farm, a former collective that has become one of the most successful farms around Moscow.

Director Pavel Grudinin says his strawberries are better than anything else in the Russian capital because they go from field to shelf in under 24 hours.

But with Russia joining the World Trade Organization next week, Grudinin worries that rules designed to ensure fair trade will put him at a disadvantage. He says it will be hard for him to compete with U.S. and European producers who can offer lower prices — because they don't have to deal with corruption and bureaucracy.

Thousands of businesses across Russia are fearful as the country — after 18 years of negotiations — is set to join the WTO, which restricts import duties and subsidies in an effort to even the playing field for international trade. Parliament needs to approve the ascension by July 10, something almost sure to happen as Russian President Vladimir Putin — whose party controls parliament — says WTO membership will bring increased foreign investment and make Russian companies more competitive.

Grudinin says those rosy projections fail to take into account the toll of never-ending inspections and official checks.

"That's why we're not competitive," he says. "We don't get much support compared to European and American farmers. We'd better deal with corruption first and then join the WTO, not the other way around."

Euro 2012: For Poland and Ukraine, the hangover begins now

In one of his short stories, Polish science-fiction writer Stanislaw Lem imagined a spy from an alien culture making a report on the Earth’s activities based on years of distant observation.

One of the things he marvels at is our piety — every weekend, tens of thousands of us fill large, open-air houses of worship to cheer on the priests, who work in teams on grass.

Lem meant this, like he meant just about everything, as a swipe at totalitarianism and our circus-cult generally. Like all great satire, it turns out to be indistinguishable from the truth.
.....
For Poland and Ukraine, the hangover started Monday.

Euro 2012 left little of real worth for either country. Many of the planned infrastructure improvements — the easiest way to sell these things to non-sports fans and various other realists — weren’t finished. Watchdog groups have been stymied in their efforts figure out the exact cost of hosting the tournament — originally estimated around $50 billion (U.S.).
.....
When people remember the tournament in five years time, they’ll remember Spain, Pirlo’s Panenka and racism. None does Poland or Ukraine any good.

All big, expensive, global showcases are idealized as a vast program of forced modernization. They need to be. Developed countries, where it’s harder to hide the cost overruns, have been slowly losing interest.

Space Station Crew Lands in Kazakhstan

A Soyuz reentry capsule with three members of the International Space Station (ISS) crew landed safely in Kazakhstan on Sunday, mission control said.

Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, NASA astronaut Don Pettit and European Space Agency astronaut Andre Kuipers have spent more than six months in orbit.

While in orbit, the crew performed one space walk and several docking and undocking operations. They also conducted more than 30 scientific research experiments.