‘Russia maintains dialogue both with Assad and Syrian opposition’

16.11, 20:00

The foreign ministers of the Arab League, consisting of 22 members, have confirmed the suspension of Syria from the group, blaming it for the violent suppression of anti-government rallies.

Arab world protests 15.11, 15:49

As violence continues unabated in this Arab Republic, members of the Syrian opposition are telling Russian diplomats they are against any foreign military intervention in the settlement of their country's conflict.

Syria unrest 15.11, 10:45

Syrian opposition leaders said that they want to prevent any military intervention in Syria and avoid a Libyan scenario. The statement comes during their visit to Moscow as pressure piles on the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Syria unrest 14.11, 23:44

Syria is becoming increasingly isolated with its neighbors turning their backs on it. Some believe that the Arab League and especially the Gulf states are doing the bidding of the West by putting more pressure on Damascus.

Syria unrest 14.11, 17:02

The “illegitimate” decision to suspend Syria from the Arab League has received wide support from the EU and the US. Russia, however, has strongly opposed the measure, which is starting to look like another step on the road to a Libya-style scenario.

Arab world protests Syria unrest 13.11, 22:23

As massive pro-Assad demonstrations continue across Syria, Damascus has called for an emergency meeting of Arab League heads of state in an apparent attempt to avert its suspension from the regional bloc.

Syria unrest //

Published: 17 November, 2011, 07:09

Syrians wave national flags as they rally in central Damascus on November 16, 2011. (AFP Photo/Louai Beshara )

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TAGS: Conflict, Military, Russia, Politics, Kevin Owen, Opposition, Syria

Russian lawmaker and foreign policy architect Konstantin Kosachev thinks that Russia is “probably one of the very few, or maybe the only country, which maintains dialogue both with Assad and with the opposition.”

Kosachev told RT that the opposition has visited Russia recently.

“We had rather a good discussion in Moscow – nobody else does the same thing. People either support this or that part. We are impartial, we have dialogue with each side, and hopefully we will succeed in promoting further political process there.”

The head of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the State Duma believes that targeting Damascus is counterproductive to solving the crisis in Syria, while, he notes, the situation is getting more and more alarming.

“For me the fact that the violence is escalating is a reflection of the wrong approach taken by certain states, a unilateral approach, when they keep saying to the people of Syria that ‘You, people, are right, and the authorities are wrong’. This is a wrong approach, because that type of messages introduces an illusion that, the people of Syria can get freedom and democracy by using violence against the ruling authorities and not by negotiations.”

According to Kosachev, the message being sent to the Syrian authorities and the Syrian people by Russia is “much more appropriate.”

The sanctions by the Arab League and the West are based on the argument that Damascus is cracking down on peaceful demonstrators. But Damascus says it is fighting the Free Syrian Army, which is apparently well-armed and coordinated, and is staging a full-on assault on the regime. As for Russia’s view on the way the Free Syrian Army are conducting themselves, there are certain “questions” to them concerning this, as the Russian lawmaker points out.

“We do have questions because we can see they use heavy weapons, they are well equipped, so it is not just about throwing stones at policemen or bodyguards – this is about using heavy weapons and this is a real war. And for Russia the most important thing is to prevent further casualties and victims, and the only way to do that is to maintain the political process once again. I believe that Russia, the US and the EU, the Arab League and anybody else is to send the only message to all conflicting sides in the country – that is to try and speak to each other.”

Today: 01:10

With the credibility of an IAEA report on Iran’s secretive nuclear activity being questioned, some experts say the Iranian people should ask their government why their country is still a member of the UN nuclear agency.

Today: 10:37

Occupy Wall Street protesters in New York have returned to the epicenter of the movement, Zuccotti Park, but without their tents and sleeping bags. Massive rallies are expected to resume throughout the United States.

Occupy Wall Street

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UNICS fail to stop Barca’s unbeaten run

08.12, 12:11

It seems CSKA Moscow's basketball team have forgotten how to lose. The Armymen have clocked up an unbroken run of eight wins in the Euroleague after downing Zagreb in the Russian capital on Wednesday night.

02.12, 15:23

UNICS have Kazan progressed to the Top 16 of basketball’s Euroleague, following a 72-61 victory over Galatasaray on home court.

24.11, 13:22

Russian basketball powerhouse CSKA Moscow have increased their unbeaten Euroleague record to six games, booking their place in the tournament’s Top 16.

28.10, 16:14

Russian side UNICS Kazan have grabbed their first win in this season's Euroleague, with a late rally seeing them beat Galatasaray 68-64 in Istanbul.

Published: 09 December, 2011, 13:07

Barcelona's Victor Sada, second left, and Lynn Greer (Unics), right, during a group stage game at Europleague. (RIA Novosti / Roman Kruchinin)

TAGS: Basketball, Euroleague

UNICS Kazan basketball players were unable to stop a surging Barcelona in their away clash in the Euroleague.

­The Spaniards have prolonged their unbeaten run to eight games, but UNICS also have reason to celebrate, going through to the Top 16 despite the loss.

Barcelona shot an underwhelming 40 per cent from the field, but were still able to overtake when it mattered most.

The Russians slowed down in the fourth quarter, while the Catalan outfit turned up the heat.

American Pete Mickeal scored 10 points and made two of three from beyond the arc to help Barca collect a 63-50 win.  

Barcelona as well as CSKA Moscow remain the only two sides who have not yet lost a single game in the Euroleague this season.

08.12, 19:24

With the NBA season getting underway later this month, Russia’s best basketball player Andrey Kirilenko, who currently plays for CSKA Moscow, has a decision to make – should he stay, or should he go.

Today: 14:21

The NBA lockout appears to be over after team-owners and players ratified a new collective bargaining agreement.

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The Gagarin bus is coming!

13.04.2009, 17:34

Most Russians do not want to fly into space, and do not know contemporary cosmonauts, according to the results of a public opinion poll conducted by the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VCIOM).

03.08, 20:02

Two Russian cosmonauts have left the International Space Station for a six-hour spacewalk to mark the 50th anniversary of the first-ever manned space flight by Yuri Gagarin with the launch of the unique microsatellite.

14.07, 14:02

London has unveiled the monument to the world’s first spaceman, Russia’s pride Yury Gagarin, in front of the British Council Mall headquarters on Thursday, July 14. It is planned that the statue will be on display in London just for one year.

Published: 09 December, 2011, 14:53

The bus that delivered Gagarin safely to the door of his space ship remained in service at the cosmodrome until 1967.

TAGS: Space, Russia, Thrills&Spills, Vehicles

Ever heard of a bus that could take you to within one stop of … the moon? The only bus to perform that feat was the vehicle which whisked the first man in space, Russia’s Yury Gagarin, to the historic launch site of his “Vostok” craft back in 1961.

­He blasted off from the Baikonur spaceport complex on April 12, opening the era of manned space flight.

The bus that delivered Gagarin safely to the door of his space ship remained in service at the  cosmodrome until 1967. In the mid ‘80s, it finally retired to become a museum exhibit in the Ukrainian city of Lviv.  

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the legendary bus was transported to the town of Gagarin, named in honor of the first-ever cosmonaut who was born not far from there, in the nearby village of Klushino.

The vehicle has recently received a much-needed facelift and is now said to be fully functional.  It has been suggested that the bus could even be used to give rides to visitors to the Yury Gagarin museum.

Today: 12:33

Some women strip off for animal rights, some to support their favorite politicians, others to protest against discrimination. But Russia’s so-called “Calendar Girls”, are baring all to help some of the most stigmatized people in society.

Today: 17:01

One of the world’s most celebrated blondes, Claudia Schiffer, is no stranger to stalkers, with hordes of admirers seeking her company. But this time around her new suitor is Russian, and is even claiming to be the father of her daughter.

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Claudia Schiffer, Say it isn’t so!

14.11, 16:35

Russian runway siren, green-eyed supermodel Anne V has had to abstain from her fave food - fruit - entirely, to get her washboard stomach ready for the latest Victoria’s Secret fashion show in New York.

31.10, 23:50

With several fashion weeks hitting the Russian capital, RT managed to catch up with a bunch of fashion celebrities for expert advice on how to be stylish this season.

Published: 09 December, 2011, 17:01

Claudia Schiffer (Reuters / Pascal Rossignol)

TAGS: Celebrity, Fashion, Russia

One of the world’s most celebrated blondes, Claudia Schiffer, is no stranger to stalkers, with hordes of admirers seeking her company. But this time around her new suitor is Russian, and is even claiming to be the father of her daughter.

­The blue-eyed German fashion siren, whose image has graced over 500 magazine covers across the world, might never have heard of the Chuvash Republic, in Central Russia, where her admirer, Aleksandr Gavrilov, hails from.

He claims that several years ago he got acquainted by chance, through the Internet, with a beautiful lady who later came to meet him in Moscow. The gent from Chuvash says he even rented an apartment in the Russian capital where they spent four happy days.

The beauty went back home and Aleksandr never heard from her again. It was only when he came across media reports showing Claudia Schiffer in the family way that he finally “realized” that his lover and the pregnant supermodel were one and the same.

Having put two and two together, the Russian Romeo now considers Claudia’s second daughter, Cosima Violet, born in May 2010, his own.

He has recently filed a claim in a local court demanding a DNA test to prove his claim.

The 41-year-old supermodel has three children with her husband, British director Mattew Vaughn, to whom she has been married for nearly 10 years. Before that, Schiffer dated magician David Copperfield and was a regular star guest at his mesmerizing shows.

Back in 2002, an Italian admirer of the model who later turned out to be mentally ill was arrested after making nine visits to her home in England in the hope of meeting his enamorata in the flesh. He explained that none other than the Pope had asked him to marry the German beauty.
Several years later another fan, this time from Canada, was accused of harassing the beauty at her mansion in Suffolk, bombarding her with love letters.

Today: 14:53

Ever heard of a bus that could take you to within one stop of … the moon? The only bus to perform that feat was the vehicle which whisked the first man in space, Russia’s Yury Gagarin, to the historic launch site of his “Vostok” craft back in 1961.

Today: 19:02

A mobile phone ringing in the middle of Verdi’s Otello will outrage actors and annoy your neighbors. Several theaters in America, however, have allowed culture lovers to use their twitters during live performances.

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NATO plan to depoly ABMs in Europe 'just a waste of money'

07.12, 15:02

Russia’s Chief of General Staff says Moscow is being pushed into a new arms race, although it has repeatedly stressed that it does not want this.

30.11, 18:05

Russia is uncertain as to whether or not it will take part in the NATO-Russia summit in Chicago in May next year due to a deadlock in missile defense talks.

Russia-NATO relations 16.11, 17:40

NATO is not adjusting to a post-Cold War reality. That is according to Russia’s envoy to the bloc after the session of the Russia-NATO Council in Brussels on Wednesday.

02.11, 16:55

It is likely that NATO’s European missile defense shield will be created without the Russian participation in the project, Moscow’s envoy to the alliance, Dmitry Rogozin has said.

Russia-NATO relations

Published: 09 December, 2011, 19:33

Polish air defence unit launches a ground-to-air missile near the Baltic coast city of Ustka May 28 during joint military exercises with other membeers of the NATO military alliance from Germany, France and the Czech Republic ( Reuters / Leszek Wdowinski)

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TAGS: Arms, NATO, Kevin Owen

NATO’s plan to deploy its European missile defense system is “just a waste of money” as the allegedly dangerous countries lack the capacity to strike the US, while Russia would easily bypass the

With Russia and NATO failing to reach an agreement on NATO’s European missile defense program, a growing number of experts are questioning the rationale behind the deployment of the ABMs and radars.

Lawrence M. Krass, a physicist from Arizona State University, believes the missile defense system is a futile waste of money because the so-called rogue states the system is meant to defend against do not have the capability to strike the US or its allies with ballistic missiles, while bigger countries, such as Russia, would simply bypass the system using decoys along with actual ballistic missiles if a war were to break out.

“We cannot defend against ballistic missiles.” Krass said. “It just doesn’t work. If you look at all the tests that have gone forward, the weapons systems have failed during most of them. And none of them have been tested against the kind of weapons a country like Russia would use if it ever wanted to use them because you’d send out decoys at the same time as missiles. Any sensible rich country would do that and we can’t distinguish between decoys and missiles. So from a strategic perspective, for missile defense, they’re just useless. There may be other political reasons to create such a defense but they don’t work as advertised.”

Krass believes one of the reasons why the US is creating the system may be to pander to a hawkish electorate in the run-up to the 2012 Presidential and Congressional elections.

Meanwhile, Russia has announced plans to deploy a missile warning system in its exclave of Kaliningrad and to equip its troops with missiles that would be able to penetrate the ABMs. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov refused to back down on these plans, arguing that Moscow’s demands for the US to sign a binding agreement not to target its system against Russia had been ignored.

Today: 17:21

Central banks in eurozone countries are making contingency plans for the possible collapse of the euro.Demand for money-printing services is expected to soar as old national currencies prepare for a come-back.

Eurozone crisis

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Lukashenko rival’s whereabouts worry PACE

20.05, 09:44

Two Belarusian presidential candidates have been found guilty of organizing mass protests against country’s President Aleksandr Lukashenko back in December last year.

16.05, 12:06

A Russian journalist and the wife of one of Belarus’ presidential candidates Irina Khalip has received a two-year suspended sentence for her part in the December riots in Minsk.

13.11, 20:08

Belarusian leader Aleksandr Lukashenko has ratified a new law targeting public gatherings, including flash-mobs organized through the Internet. The latest move is viewed by many as a hardening of the regime’s stance on freedom of assembly.

Published: 17 November, 2011, 12:58

Former Belarusian presidential candidate Andrey Sannikov

TAGS: Crime, Politics, Human rights, Belarus, Opposition

A PACE rapporteur for Belarus has expressed concern over the fate of jailed ex-presidential candidate Andrey Sannikov, who has reportedly disappeared, and demanded that Minsk immediately clarify the situation.

“I get regular reports about the abuse and torture of prisoners. In this regard, I urge the Belarusian authorities to immediately inform Sannikov’s family and lawyers of his location, as well as to provide an access to him," Andres Herkel said, as cited by Belarusian news website Telegraf.by.

On May 14, Sannikov, a high-profile Belarusian opposition leader, was imprisoned for five years on charges of organizing mass protests after last December's presidential poll, which secured President Aleksandr Lukashenko a fourth term in office.

Up until recently the opposition leader was serving his sentence in a prison colony in Bobruisk. However, on Wednesday, when Sannikov’s lawyer Marina Kovalevskaya was going to meet with him, she was told that the jailed politician had been transferred to another prison. No explanations for the move were provided.

Later, Sannikov’s wife, journalist Irina Khalip, was told that her spouse would be sent to one of the penal colonies of the Vitebsk Region for his safety reasons. Commenting on the matter to the Belarusian Partisan opposition website, Khalip referred to the decision as “bullying a person in an attempt to demoralize and completely destroy him.”

According to BelaPAN report, Andrey Sannikov is currently being housed in a prison in Mogilev, eastern Belarus and will be later transferred to the Vitebsk Region. His lawyer Kovalevskya was though denied a meeting with the former candidate on the grounds that he is a prisoner in transit. The lawyer considers the decision unfounded and is planning to file a complaint.

16.11, 17:44

It’s high time to get down to creating a Eurasian Union, State Duma speaker Boris Gryzlov says.

Today: 16:02

The US has offered a $5 million reward for the information leading to the location of Russia’s most wanted Chechen terrorist leader, Doku Umarov.

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