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MOMBASA, Kenya (AFP) – Somali pirates seized control of an oil-laden Russian tanker in the Gulf of Aden early Wednesday, setting up a high-seas standoff with a Russian destroyer steaming to the zone. The 230-metre (755 foot)-long Moscow University was heading east from the Gulf of Aden early Wednesday when it was boarded by pirates around 350 nautical miles off the Yemeni coast, the EU anti-piracy mission said. The ship's Russian operator said the tanker had been on its way to China from the Red Sea with 86,000 tonnes of crude oil, believed to be worth around 50 million dollars....

SNIPPET: "The attack took place at a hippodrome in the city of Nalchik, capital of Russia's North Caucasus region of Kabardino-Balkaria." SNIPPET: "A law enforcement source told the RIA Novosti news agency the explosive was a time bomb, equivalent to about 5 kg of TNT. The ministry officials said the attack was aimed at civilians and was designed to hit as many people as possible." Posted by Robert on May 1, 2010 5:21 PM

KIEV, Russia, April 29 (UPI) -- Eggs were hurled during a rowdy Russian parliamentary debate during the ratification of a Russian-Ukrainian naval base deal, an official said. Parliamentary Speaker Lolodymyr Lytvyn said Thursday in Kiev the Ukrainian deputies who threw eggs at him and engaged in fistfights in the chamber will be required to pay for any damage although he said, "The moral and political damage cannot be compensated for," RIA Novosti reported. Lytvyn said the chamber suffered much damage, including voting equipment vandalism. Several deputies sought medical help after the debate, Lytvyn said, declining to provide further details. The...

What does immigration reform mean to us? Well, now it depends on who you're asking. To the people of this country immigration reform means having a coherent and fair law to allow temporary migrant labor, the deportation of criminals and a secure border. We believe that mass immigration is no longer feasible as it once was a century ago. America has changed and in modern times mass, unchecked, immigration is a security risk, it adversely affects our society in education, welfare, crime, health care and creates unacceptable and unsustainable overall costs to governance. For the rest of the story please...

"Air Force strikes in Gaza" SNIPPET: "IDF retaliates for deadly Qassam attack: Air Force hits several Gaza targets, including metal foundry, smuggling tunnel; Vice PM Shalom says Israel to offer strong response to rocket attack that killed Thai worker Thursday" SNIPPET: "IDF aircraft struck at least four targets in the Gaza Strip on Friday, a day after a rocket fired from the Palestinian enclave killed a Thai worker in Israel, Hamas security officials and witnesses said." SNIPPET: "Israel also sent a letter of complaint to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who is due to visit Israel at the weekend,...

March 31, 2010 Georgia accused over Moscow Metro bombing Tony Halpin Relatives of Maxim Mareyev, a 20-year-old university student who was killed in Monday's suicide bombings The head of Russia’s Security Council accused Georgia today of backing terrorism in the North Caucasus and said that it could be involved in the Moscow Metro bombing. As Moscow held the first funerals for victims of the attack, Nikolai Patrushev alleged that members of Georgia’s special services had links with terrorist groups in the region and said that investigators would look for evidence of their involvement in the double suicide-bombing that killed 39...

Washington and Moscow will restart talks with Washington on a new arms control treaty this month, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday. “We hope it will happen somewhere in the second half of January,” Lavrov said in televised remarks. However, as I’ve written a few days ago in the New York Times, the negotiations are stuck in the muck. Obama administration has failed to complete the negotiation of a treaty to replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which expired on Dec. 5. The two superpowers are now in unchartered waters. Moscow and Washington have stated that START still...

So, let’s get this straight: On a visit to Israel by Vice President Biden, a lower-level, Israeli government agency announces its intent to build more housing units in East Jerusalem and the Obama administration goes nuclear, condemning the announcement as though it was a violation of some sacred agreement between the two countries—which of course it wasn’t. The Israeli government, in turn, apologizes for the timing of the announcement but is told that this will not be enough. Israel now must, according to the administration, “prove” it wants peace. Now, shift to yesterday in Russia: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton...

SNIPPET: "The Kuwaiti daily Al-Siyassa stated, citing a Sunni Ahwazi organization opposed to the Iranian regime, that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has equipped Russian SS-4 missiles with chemical warheads – mustard gas, sarin, and cyanide – and that they are aimed at the Gulf countries and other Arab countries. The SS-4 has a range of about 2,000 km. According to the report, the IRGC has stepped up research of biological weapons research..."

The FARC and the Quest for Surface to Air Missiles By Douglas Farah SNIPPET: "The Miami Herald today reports that the Colombian FARC has likely already fulfilled its long-time goal of purchasing surface to air missiles to be used against U.S.-supplied helicopters in Colombia. The FARC has long placed a very high strategic priority on acquiring SAMs, going back to at least 2003. The commanders officially requested money from Libya and Nicaragua at that time to purchase the weapons because the insurgency was being so badly hurt by helicopters acquired by the military and police." SNIPPET: "It is not a...

A Russian cargo freighter flying on autopilot performed a successful rendezvous and docking with the space station Thursday night, delivering two-and-a-half tons of supplies and equipment for the international outpost and its resident crew. While flying 212 miles over the extreme southwestern Atlantic, the Progress M-04M spacecraft linked up to the aft docking port of the station's Zvezda service module at 11:26 p.m. EST. "Docking confirmed. Contact and capture," NASA commentator Rob Navias announced from Houston's Mission Control Center. "Docking occurring almost to the second as had been planned by Russian flight controllers." Hooks and latches were engaged a few...

According to unconfirmed rumors in network someone has seen the PAK FA breached “Code of Silence” and the national laws to describe the aircraft. PAK FA news that looks more like Su-27 instead of F-22 and F-23.

Russia's first stealth fighter intended to match the latest U.S. design made a successful maiden flight Friday, giving a boost to the country's efforts to modernize its rusting Soviet-built arsenals and retain lucrative export market. The Sukhoi T-50's flight comes nearly two decades after the first prototype of the U.S. F-22 Raptor took to the air, and Russian officials said it will take another five years for the new jet to enter air force service. Still, the flight marked a major step in Russia's efforts to burnish the faded glory of its once-proud aviation industries and strengthen a beleaguered military.

Two of Russia's champion ice skaters have caused outrage after dressing as Aborigines for a competition. The couple, who are favored to win gold at next month's winter Olympics, wear skin-toned suits with red loin cloths, white body paint and eucalyptus leaves. But experts in Australia say Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin's movements and body decorations bear no resemblance to that of the Aborigines' 60,000 year old culture. "They have got the whole thing wrong," said Stephen Page, artistic director of the respected indigenous group, the Bangarra Dance Company. Page said the two and half minute routine's didgeridoo music sounded...

A RUSSIAN police officer was arrested for shooting a snow plough driver and leaving him to bleed to death in the street. Lieutenant-Colonel Anatoly Maurin collided with the snow plough in southern Moscow in the early hours of December 26. After an argument, Maurin shot the 60-year-old driver ... The incident is the latest in a series of arrests of Russian police officers for violent crimes. A Moscow police colonel went on trial in December for killing two and injuring seven in a shooting spree in a supermarket in April that caused widespread outrage. In November, three Moscow police officers...

6: General manliness. The Tula Jackhammer has no prissy “Ergonomics” or “delicate triggers” or other crap. It is a brutally simple tool. If you can’t pull the trigger, then do some more grip exercises, you pansy. Don’t like the recoil? Get a recoil pad, chew a handful of Vicodin, and see your doctor for some testosterone shots. The length of pull is too short? Wear a stout Russian overcoat and stop whining. And some earplugs, since you probably don’t want to hear the rest of the "Commie Chiropractor" community laughing at you.

(IsraelNN.com) Terrorists in Hamas-controlled Gaza escalated attacks against Israel Sunday and fired Russian-made anti-tank missiles for the first time. The missiles exploded in the fields of Kibbutz Alumim, adjacent to the separation fence, and no injuries or damage was reported. The advanced missiles were of the type usually fired from helicopters, and they carry a larger payload and have a longer range than anti-tank missiles that previously have been used in attacks against Israel.

(An Excerpt From Page 2 Of The Article)...“I should mention another interesting aspect. Modern-day Western arms are produced with special chips which make it impossible to use the weapons against the manufacturing country and its allies. It may mean that Saudi Arabia does not exclude a possible military confrontation with the West. Finally, Saudi Arabia does not perceive Moscow as an enemy. Quite on the contrary – it’s a potential partner,” the expert said...

A Russian military plane crashed into the sea during a training exercise in Russia's Far East region, leaving all 11 crew members missing and presumed dead, officials said on Saturday. The Tupolev Tu-142 plane disappeared from radar as it was coming to the end of a training mission on Friday over the Tatarski Strait that divides Russia's Far East island of Sakhalin from the mainland, the defence ministry said. "Given the conditions under which the catastrophe took place, we can presume that all the crew aboard the Tu-142 were killed," a source in the emergencies ministry told the RIA Novosti...

Jerusalem - In a dramatic announcement, Israeli police said Monday they have arrested the alleged murder of a family of six - two grandparents, two parents, and two young children - who were found brutally stabbed to death in a partially burned-out apartment. The alleged perpetrator carried out the murders - which have been described as 'the worst in Israel's history' - apparently in revenge for being fired from his job as a waiter at the family restaurant in the town of Rishon Lezion, south of Tel Aviv, police said as a gag order on the investigation was lifted. Demian...