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Quote: homeland.house.gov/hearing/subcommittee-hearing-jihadist-use-social-media-how-prevent-terrorism-and-preserve-innovation Subcommittee Hearing: Jihadist Use of Social Media - How to Prevent Terrorism and Preserve Innovation Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence | 311 Cannon House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 | Dec 6, 2011 2:00pm On Tuesday, December 6, 2011 the Committee on Homeland Security’s Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence will hold a hearing entitled "Jihadist Use of Social Media - How to Prevent Terrorism and Preserve Innovation." The Committee will meet at 2:00 p.m. in 311 Cannon House Office Building. Witnesses Mr. Evan F. Kohlmann Flashpoint Global Partners Mr. William McCants Analyst Analyst for the Center for Naval...

"First, I am instructing the Defense Ministry to immediately put the missile attack early warning radar station in Kaliningrad on combat alert. Second, protective cover of Russia's strategic nuclear weapons, will be reinforced as a priority measure under the programme to develop out air and space defenses. Third, the new strategic ballistic missiles commissioned by the Strategic Missile Forces and the Navy will be equipped with advanced missile defense penetration systems and new highly-effective warheads. Fourth, I have instructed the Armed Forces to draw up measures for disabling missile defense system data and guidance systems if need be... Fifth, if...

Japan's food radiation limits set too high: Belarusian scientist TOKYO (Kyodo) -- A visiting Belarusian scientist, who has offered advice to residents affected by the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, said Wednesday that he believes Japan's food radiation limits have been set too high and urged the nation to lower them to realistic levels. Vladimir Babenko, deputy director of the Belrad Institute of Radiation Safety in the former Soviet republic, told a press conference in Tokyo that he cannot understand the thresholds designated by the Japanese government for food and beverage products, saying they are much higher than Belarusian standards. Babenko...

In 1941 a young priest was condemned to death by the Soviets. He was to become one of the ChurchÂ’s great leaders, says Jonathan LuxmooreIn a stately marble corridor of the Polish bishopsÂ’ conference HQ a diminutive old man stands awkwardly among colleagues in the regalia of episcopal office. Outside, a line of dark Mercedes wait to transport their passengers back to spacious residences, while in the vestibule teams of assistants stand in readiness. Cardinal Kazimierz ÅšwiÄ…tek, who died in July, was an unlikely ecclesiastical elder statesman, surviving imprisonment and exile before being called to lead his countryÂ’s Catholics through...

For the past year, the debt crisis has monopolized Europe’s attention to the extent that many forgot the EU did anything besides argue about debt levels. Apparently many in Europe feel the same way, as efforts to bolster its relationships along its Eastern periphery — once a central focus of EU policy — have been all but ignored by policymakers and the media. But where Europe sees a distraction, Russia sees an opportunity. The FT reports that Putin is setting his sights on the big time in anticipation of his return to the presidency: Vladimir Putin, Russia's prime minister, this...

This week at the UN left the distinct feeling of Cold War deיja vu. Russia and China were arrayed against the United States and Western Europe in blocking an anti-Syrian resolution at the UN. .... The Russian Foreign Ministry condemned the defeated resolution as one that fomented tension, and "contained one-sided accusations against Damascus and an ultimatum-like threat of sanctions against the Syrian authorities.” .... Xinhua, the Chinese news agency, approvingly quoted the Syrian ambassador who claimed that the US and the Western Europeans "are undermining international legality and they are leading the whole world into a new colonial era...

The terrorist attack on the Minsk subway has spawned many theories and presumptions about those who were behind this horrific event. Some observers believe that the attackers may be in Russia. According to independent political analyst Dmitry Oreshkin, there are several arguments in favor of this theory when viewed in the context of the upcoming 2012 elections. ‘Respublika’: Dmitry Borisovich (Oreshkin), the terrorist attack on the Minsk subway was a new phenomenon for Belarus, and very unexpected. Do you have any theories as to who might be behind this event? Dmitry Oreshkin: I rather doubt this was (the work of)...

Belarus may buy outdated Su-30 fighters from Russia Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jet © AFP/ Frederick Florin September 16 (RIA Novosti) Eighteen Su-30K fighter jets which were delivered by Russia to India in the 1990s could end up in service with the Belarusian air force, respected Russian business daily Kommersant said on Friday. Russia and India agreed on the sale of advanced Su-30MKI fighters to the Indian air force in mid-1990s, but Moscow had not been able to deliver the aircraft until early 2000. The sides found a compromise - the first 18 fighter jets were delivered in downgraded version, Su-30K,...

MOSCOW (AP) — First came Mikhail Gorbachev, who moved a monolithic Soviet Union toward reform. Then in August 1991, an ill-conceived coup attempt by clumsy and occasionally drunken men opened a crack that could not be closed. A few pieces of the empire fell off and floated away. Soon the rest of the mass collapsed. Triumphalists in the West saw the USSR's disintegration as the inevitable triumph of democracy, even as "the end of history." Others, as Russian leader Vladimir Putin, later put it, bemoaned the "greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century." The shards of the Soviet Union lie somewhere...

Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister of Russia, and former head of the KGB, rules as de facto czar of enormous empire that spans 11 time zones. A confirmed and dedicated Communist, Putin has decided that Russia should publicly honor another fellow socialist on his 50th birthday. From "The Voice of Russia" English language website we read: Russia's Post Office has issued a collection of stamps and envelopes to mark the 50th jubilee of the US President Barack Obama. The US leader is celebrating his birthday on the 4th of August. In one of his recent interviews Mr. Obama said that fifty...

THE Moloko Bar sits halfway down a shaded alley a short walk from Minsk's Victory Square. You know you're on the right road when you see the avant-garde mural, a mash-up of Renaissance-era paintings and graffiti, that runs along the pavement, ending at a matte white building with a black "Ñž" by the door, the name of the attached art gallery. Such venues are around every corner in European cities like Berlin and Barcelona. But in the drab Belarusian capital, they are very much an exception.Maria, a 29-year-old poet and journalist, told me over a milkshake that the bar/gallery complex...

ASTANA, Kazakhstan - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called Wednesday for a security alliance of several former Soviet nations and China to form a united front against the West. Ahmadinejad's address to fellow heads of state at the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Kazakhstan will likely deepen suspicions that the bloc is intended as a counterweight to the United States across the region. In a summit declaration signed by all the member states, the organization also attacked missile defense programs in another apparent dig at the United States.

MINSK, Belarus (AP) — A sharp devaluation of the Belarusian ruble has spread panic across the country, with people rushing on Wednesday to buy dollars, euros, toasters and canned goods — anything that will not lose its value as quickly as the national currency. Belarusians swept store shelves and queued for entire days at currency exchange offices in a desperate attempt to protect their savings from the country's sinking fortunes. President Alexander Lukashenko promised that the national currency will remain stable following the devaluation ordered a day earlier, but experts warned it will continue its nosedive if Russia doesn't provide...

.. inadequacies and deficiencies of the existing international monetary and financial system.. In 1998 Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov, a strategist and master spy, conceived of an economic alliance between Russia, India and China. The purpose of this combination was to counter the international influence of the United States. By now it should be apparent that Russia and China intend to launch an attack against the U.S. dollar. Do we yet realize that such an attack is possible? And have we reckoned the political consequences?

MINSK, April 15 (Reuters) - Belarus' central bank has stopped selling gold to local retail customers for Belarussian roubles BYR

Did you know that the EU has ensured that there has been no war between its members for last 60 years?

Ukraine has resisted pressure to join the Moscow-led union, preferring instead to pursue a free-trade agreement with the European Union. During a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart, Putin said the customs union would stimulate growth in whole sectors of the Ukrainian economy as he touted the benefits of the economic integration formed when the countries were all part of the Soviet Union. “The technological links from the Soviet period are still functioning, and one partner cannot be efficient without another,” Putin said. “That is what we must think about and give a second wind to the capabilities formed during the...

In Minsk they will long remember the evening of April 11th, 2011, when an explosion at the ‘October’ subway station took the lives of 11 people. The law enforcement bodies after their first examination of the scene now have no doubts as to what to label the explosion: this is an act of terrorism, the likes of which modern Belarus has never before known. How it was According to Minsk police, the explosion occurred at 17:55 on the platform of the ‘October’ subway station near the second car of a train that was heading in the direction of the Culture...

MINSK, Belarus – An explosion tore through a key subway station in the Belarusian capital of Minsk during evening rush hour Monday killing 11 people and wounding 126. An official said the blast was a terrorist act. President Alexander Lukashenko did not say what caused the explosion at the Oktyabrskaya subway station, but suggested outside forces could be behind it.

A rush-hour explosion at a subway station in the center of the Belarusian capital has reportedly killed at least seven people and injured dozens more. The blast occurred at the Kastrychnitskaya (October Square) station in downtown Minsk, not far from President Alyaksandr Lukashenka's offices. There was no immediate indication of whether the explosion was an accident or an attack. A man who gave only his first name, Henadz, told RFE/RL's Belarus Service that he was unsure whether the explosion had struck a train or the platform. Lukashenka has ordered an emergency meeting with officials later tonight. 'Pillars Of Fire' An...

MINSK, Belarus – An explosion tore through a key subway station in the Belarusian capital of Minsk during evening rush hour Monday, killing seven people and wounding 50 others, officials said. An Associated Press reporter at the scene saw heavily wounded people being carried out of the Oktyabrskaya subway station, including one person with missing legs.

MINSK, Belarus – An explosion tore through a subway station in the Belarusian capital during evening rush hour Monday, causing at least a dozen serious injuries and sending clouds of smoke pouring into the street. The official state news agency Belta said there were fatalities.

MINSK, Belarus — An explosion has ripped through a subway station in the center of the Belarusian capital, severely wounding at least a dozen people and sending clouds of smoke pouring into the street. An Associated Press reporter at the scene Monday evening saw several inert people being carried out of the station, some with heavy injuries including at least one with missing legs.

21st Century SocialismThe attempt to destroy democracy in Latin America.  The Obama administration started out on the wrong foot in world affairs. It used techniques better suited for domestic political campaigns — popularity contests — in its foreign policy. In our own hemisphere, the result was confusion for our allies and our enemies alike. The overriding objective of U.S. policy — in Latin America and elsewhere — should be to advance U.S. national interests, not to curry favor with foreign leaders. If we can be liked while advancing our interests, so much the better. But when we try to befriend...

VILNIUS (AFP) — US Republican Senator John McCain on Friday dubbed Belarus's strongman President Alexander Lukashenko "a ruthless, oppressive, brutal tyrant" who was on the "wrong side of history". "We will continue to urge for further sanctions from the entire European Union and United States against Mr. Lukashenko and his corrupted regime," McCain said in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius.

WARSAW, Poland — Poland's foreign minister warned Belarus' autocratic president on Wednesday that he risks being overthrown by his own people if they decide to follow the example of protesters in Tunisia and Egypt. "Soon a jet plane will have to be kept on standby in Minsk," Radek Sikorski said, referring to the capital of Belarus. "You are losing ... sooner or later you will have to flee your own country, your own people." Sikorski spoke at international donors' conference in Warsaw where governments pledged millions in aid for the democratic opposition in Belarus, which faces censorship and the constant...

<p>Poland's foreign minister warned Belarus' autocratic president on Wednesday that he is at risk of being overthrown by his own people if they decide to follow the example of protesters in Tunisia and Egypt.</p> <p>"Soon a jet plane will have to be kept on standby in Minsk," Radek Sikorski said, referring to the capital of Belarus.</p>

Czechs unwittingly marred U.S. secret arms purchase - press Prague - The Czech Foreign Ministry in 2005 unwittingly prevented a secret attempt of the United States at buying Russian air-to-surface missiles via Belarus, the daily Pravo writes today, referring to information that the Wikileaks server provided to the Belarusian Internet daily Naviny.by. According to the document of the U.S. Embassy in Prague, the U.S. Navy wanted to get 23 Kh-31 missiles, known in the anti-radiation and anti-shipping versions, among others. After Moscow blocked a direct attempt of Czech and Ukrainian mediators to buy the missiles, Washington decided to try it...

The demonstrators smashed windows and the doors of the building in Minsk, but were later pushed back by riot police. Earlier the police broke up a smaller rally. Opposition candidate Vladimir Neklyaev was seriously injured. Incumbent Alexander Lukashenko is widely expected to win the poll, which the opposition claims has been rigged. Exit polls suggest he is far ahead of his nearest rival in Sunday's vote, having secured more than 70% of the vote. Under the authoritarian leader now seeking his fourth term, the former Soviet republic has never held a poll seen as fair by international monitors. However, the...

MINSK, Belarus – Thousands of opposition supporters in Belarus tried to storm the main government building to protest what the opposition claims was large-scale vote-rigging in Sunday's presidential election. Dozens of protesters were injured in clashes with riot police, left bruised and bloody after being beaten with clubs. An Associated Press reporter at the scene also was struck on the head, back and arm. Protesters broke windows and glass doors, but were pushed back by riot police waiting inside the building, which also houses the Central Election Commission. Hundreds more riot police then arrived in trucks. ...[snip]... "How can we...

Icky LeaksSensitive diplomatic communications have been published by the Wikileaks Web site, and some of this sensitive material concerns Russia. The importance of Russia as a global power has been downplayed since the fall of the Soviet Union. Leaked U.S. State Department cables give us a glimpse of how dangerous Russia is becoming. The true nature of the Russian regime has not been a popular topic of public discussion; but in secret meetings between diplomats, statesmen and law enforcement officials, there is growing concern. Russia has become the center of international corruption, drawing other states into her orbit.From the leaked...

Often labelled as an ‘autocracy promoter’, Russia is also showing another, curious face as an avid democracy promoter. Despite having contributed to the subversion of pro-Western regimes in Georgia and Ukraine, and having supported authoritarian Belarus for years, Moscow has shown that undemocratic leaders do not necessarily enjoy its approval if their policies are not in line with Russian interests. Moscow is not interested in fostering a particular type of regime as an end in itself. Russia's varying support for autocracy or democracy is a means of maintaining its influence over a weaker neighbour. A former ‘favourite brotherly nation of...

Three months prior to the presidential elections in Belarus, the relations between Moscow and Minsk have deteriorated. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev stated that the leader of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko's election campaign is based on anti-Russia rhetoric mindless of the $4 billion worth preferential delivery of oil and gas every year. He also stressed that Lukashenko broke his publicly made promise to recognize the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, demonstrating "dishonest" behavior. A strong emphasis was put on Moscow's intentions to communicate with all the political forces of Belarus. ...Turkic CSTO member-states -- Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan -- have always supported...

WARSAW, Poland — Poland's Foreign Ministry says Russia has arrested three Polish journalists at the site of a plane crash where President Lech Kaczynski and 95 others died in April. ... The all-news station TVN24 said one of its reporters was among those arrested, and that the group had been observing and filming the wreckage.

Vladimir Putin has revealed he met and even sang patriotic Soviet songs with a group of Russian spies deported from America. Mr Putin: 'We talked about life.' Russia's prime minister, who served as a KGB agent, said the group included the young spy Anna Chapman and predicted they would have an "interesting, bright" future. "I met with them. We talked about life. We sang. It was not karaoke but live music," Mr Putin told reporters during a visit to Ukraine. "We sang From Where the Motherland Begins," a Soviet song made famous in the 1968 USSR film The Sword and...

The 11 arrests so far are the tip of iceberg. Many more to follow, many in South Florida.” “The “South American country” where Vicky Pelaez picked up her payments from Russia’s SVR was Venezuela.” “Russia’s SVR, Castro’s DGI (Directorio General de Inteligencia) and Chavez’ SEBIN, (Servicio Bolivariano de Inteligencia) are all linked. They all share agents and information. Castro-Cubans run Chavez’ intelligence agency practically lock, stock and barrel.” “Vicky Pelaez was frequent traveler to Cuba where she met with Castro’s DGI. Pictures exist of those meetings.”

The FBI has arrested nearly a dozen Russian spies, with more arrests to come. Echoing the spirit of today's media, the headline of the Christian Science Monitor asked the following question: "The cold war is over, so why the fascination with Russian spies?" But the Cold War is not over. The Communists merely told us it was over, and we believed them. As for our supposed fascination with Russian spies, the subject is merely an entertaining human interest story. It is a story that almost nobody understands. That is to say, we have been conditioned, over many years, to dismiss...

By Peter Zeihan STRATFOR often discusses how Russia is on a bit of a roll. The U.S. distraction in the Middle East has offered Russia a golden opportunity to re-establish its spheres of influence in the region, steadily expanding the Russian zone of control into a shape that is eerily reminiscent of the old Soviet Union. Since 2005, when this process began, Russia has clearly reasserted itself as the dominant power in Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Ukraine, and has intimidated places like Georgia and Turkmenistan into a sort of silent acquiescence. But we have not spent a...

Kazakhstan's leading opposition party has warned that the customs union with Russia could be the first step in a project to re-instate the Soviet Union. Bulat Abilov, co-Chairman of the National Social Democratic Party, said: "Our concern is that this economical Union can develop into a political one. We also know about some plans to revive the Soviet Union, maybe in another form, in 2017 on the anniversary of the October Socialist Revolution of 1917." The party has written an open letter to Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev, demanding a national referendum on the customs union, which is set to come...

In the final season of the TV show “24,” an idealistic president finds herself sacrificing her principles one by one in an attempt to preserve a “peace process.” She eventually manages to hammer out a flawed treaty, but can’t bring herself to sign it. In the real world, the Obama administration’s overly idealistic pursuit of a reduction in American and Russian stockpiles of nuclear arms has led it to actually sign a woefully flawed treaty. The goal may be worthy. The pact is not. The first major problem with the treaty: It would definitely reduce the number of American weapons,...

China Thwarts Russian Goal 2010-04-05 Beijing's investment in Belarus marks move into Russia's "sphere of influence." Belarus employees work at a gas transfer station near Nesvizh, some 130 kms (80 miles) west of Minsk, Jan. 9, 2009. By Michael Lelyveld BOSTON—China is making major investments that will strain ties with Russia as it exercises its new economic power, analysts say. During a visit to Belarus on March 25, Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping approved support for projects worth up to U.S. $10 billion in the former Soviet republic on Russia's western border, a Belarusian government spokesman told reporters. China's involvement...

A preliminary report into the Smolensk tragedy may become available Tuesday, or shortly following the Polish Prosecutor General's visit to Moscow on Wednesday. The visit will also reveal if analysis of the final black box on board the doomed Tupolev Tu-154 is complete. The General Prosecutor, Andrzej Seremet, will travel to Russia to familiarize himself with the Russian report on readings from the black boxes, while findings from an in-flight recorder tested in Poland will be turned over to Russian investigators.Mr Seremet will not return to Poland with evidence relating to the Smolensk catastrophe. But his visit in Moscow is...

Russia is preparing for the biggest Red Square military parade in modern history in a Soviet-style celebration marking the 65th anniversary of the USSR defeating Nazi Germany. By Andrew Osborn in Moscow Published: 8:18PM BST 28 Apr 2010 Russian heavy weapons drive along Tverskaya street in Moscow Photo: EPA The grandiose Moscow event on May 9 will be replicated on a smaller scale in 71 cities across Russia who will hold their own military parades making it a nationwide event involving around 100,000 troops. In Moscow, foreign soldiers, including a detachment of the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards and the Central...

Tensions are mounting in Poland as the rank-and-file citizens express growing suspicion that current Polish politicians and Russian officials are engaged in a cover-up of the real story behind the air disaster that killed a large number of top government officials, including the President. As reported yesterday, Jane Burgermeister has uncovered evidence showing small caliber gun-fire at the scene of the crash and discrepancies between the official Russian version of the disaster and the information recovered in the 'black box' voice recorders from the plane. Today, Burgermeister issues a breaking updated report indicating that Poland's Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, is...

Kyrgyzstan's toppled President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, currently in exile in Belarus, lashed out at the interim government which replaced him and insisted that he remains the country's legally elected leader. AFP - Kyrgyzstan's ousted president Kurmanbek Bakiyev insisted Wednesday that he was still the rightful leader of his country, breaking several days of silence after his flight into exile. "I, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, am the legally elected president of Kyrgyzstan and recognised by the international community," he said, speaking to reporters in Belarus where he took refuge earlier this week "I do not recognise my resignation. Nine months ago the people of...

Russia says Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will personally head the investigation into an aeroplane crash that killed Poland's president. A total of 96 people were on board the plane that crashed near the western Russian city of Smolensk, all of whom are believed to be dead. Polish president Lech Kaczynski was on board the Russian-built Tupolev 154 jet when it went down in heavy fog near a military airport. Russian authorities have already said they suspect pilot error in the crash, near Smolensk, in Western Russia. There are reports the jet made several attempted landings before the crash. Also on...

WASHINGTON — President Obama said Monday that he was revamping American nuclear strategy to substantially narrow the conditions under which the United States would use nuclear weapons, even in self defense. But the president said in an interview that he was carving out an exception for “outliers like Iran and North Korea” that have violated or renounced the main treaty to halt nuclear proliferation. Discussing his approach to nuclear security the day before formally releasing his new strategy, Mr. Obama described his policy as part of a broader effort to edge the world toward making nuclear weapons obsolete, and to...

Last week the British Embassy announced that British, French and American troops would march with Russian soldiers on Red Square to mark the 65th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany. The Brits said in a statement that the parade may mark the first time British troops have marched in Red Square. The AP helpfully explains that Victory Day is Russia's most important secular holiday. It adds that the Kremlin plans a larger parade than usual this year, with good reason. The Kremlin will be celebrating the addition of the British, French and American troops.

Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko on Tuesday offered Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, a vocal US critic, help in building an anti-air defense system as part of the countries' deeper strategic ties. "We have proposed to your government and your president sharing the experience of creating a defense system for the state," Lukashenko, visiting Caracas since Monday, told lawmakers. "If your president wants to do so, we will be able to do so very soon." "And then you can live peacefully, without having to be looking around to see what the rest of the world may do tomorrow, whether they are going...

US troops will take part in the May 9 Victory Day parade on Moscow's Red Square. Britain and France have also confirmed their plans to participate in the event marking the 65th anniversary of the 1945 Allied Victory over Nazi Germany. The organizers of the May 9 parade earlier said they would be happy to see US WW2 veterans also taking part in the anniversary march-past.