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.....a brazen family of fraudsters took advantage of sloppy subprime mortgage lenders to pull off a mindblowing scheme reeling in more than $200M - a devastating hit that contributed to the nation's financial crisis. Garri Zhigun was part of a Russian fraud ring using false documents, stolen ID's and "straw" buyers for over 1,000 subprime mortgages 2004-06. The 27-member gang worked out of a Brooklyn mortgage brokerage owned by Zhigun's mother........targets included fallen lenders Washington Mutual Bank, conned out of $842,500, Countrywide taken for $396,000.......and preyed on other banks and mortgage companies. Zhigun and accomplice Aleksander "Shorty" Lipkin bought condos...

Senator Joe Biden (D-Del) declared his running mate Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill) the winner of Friday’s debate with rival presidential nominee Senator John McCain (R-Ariz). “I especially liked the part where Senator Obama pointed out how experienced I am,” Biden exclaimed. “You know, I was in Tblisi when the Russian tanks rolled into Georgia. It was a line-in-the-sand that they knew they dared not cross. Because of me, that country is free today. No other senator has had such an immediate and momentous impact on global politics. There’s no doubt that voters will appreciate how wisely Senator Obama has chosen...

Ukraine's Jewish community is in an uproar over the news that the country's customs service recently destroyed 173 Jewish prayer books and bibles that had been sent from Russia for the use of the Jewish community in Sumy. The Ukrainian paper Fakty reported this week that a Russian courier had brought the religious books to the Ukrainian border, but discovered that he lacked enough money to pay customs. The books were therefore left at the Sumy customs office until the duty was paid. Later, however, the courier informed the office that he was abandoning the books. The customs service tried...

Virtually everyone believes Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili foolishly provoked a Russian invasion on August 7, 2008, when he sent troops into the breakaway district of South Ossetia. “The warfare began Aug. 7 when Georgia launched a barrage targeting South Ossetia,” the Associated Press reported over the weekend in typical fashion. Virtually everyone is wrong. Georgia didn't start it on August 7, nor on any other date. The South Ossetian militia started it on August 6 when its fighters fired on Georgian peacekeepers and Georgian villages with weapons banned by the agreement hammered out between the two sides in 1994. At...

The president of South Ossetia claims mercenaries took part in Georgia's offensive against the breakaway republic, according to Russia's RIA news agency. Eduard Kokoity says Ukrainians, people from... link at post 2

<p>1. Russians Suspected in Shooting of Kremlin Critic Near D.C.</p> <p>One year ago, Kremlin critic Paul Joyal was gunned down in the driveway of his suburban Maryland home. The case remains unsolved — but some see the hand of Russia in the shooting.</p>

It appears that Israel's raid into Syrian territory in order to take out a nuclear facility, a chemical weapons depot, or a missile storage unit (depending on who you believe) also had one other side benefit; the raid exposed the brand new Russian air defense system bought by Syria and Iran to be useless against Israeli airplanes: Information coming out of Iran indicates that the military there is very dismayed at how ineffective new Russian anti-aircraft systems were during the Israeli September 6th air strike on a Syrian weapons development facility near the Iraqi border. Syria and Iran have both...

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Lebanese authorities on Friday charged 20 suspected militants, including four with Russian citizenship, with terrorism for purported membership in the al-Qaida-inspired Fatah Islam group, judicial officials and the state-run news agency said. -snip- The Russians are the first non-Arabs to be charged by authorities since Fatah Islam members fought Lebanese troops for three months starting May 20. One of the Russian nationals is from Dagestan, and was identified by his nickname, Abu Abdullah. The others are Sergei Fisotsky, born in 1989, Timur Khozkov, born in 1987, and Aslan Yimkozhayev, born in 1987. Only Fisotsky is in custody.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev warned Russians on Wednesday of the risk of a rebirth of Stalinism, saying their country was in danger of forgetting its tragic past. "We should remember those who suffered, because this a lesson for all of us," Gorbachev told a conference marking 70 years since the start of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin's Great Terror. "We must squeeze Stalinism out of ourselves, not in single drops but by the glass or bucket," Gorbachev added. "There are those saying Stalin's rule was the Golden Age, while (Nikita) Khrushchev's thaw was sheer utopia and (Leonid)...

A WEALTHY Russian tried to buy a US B-52 bomber from a group of shocked American pilots at an airshow near Moscow, a Russian newspaper reported today. The unidentified Russian, wearing sunglasses and surrounded by bodyguards, approached the US delegation and asked to buy the bomber, the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper said. An astounded member of the US delegation said the bomber was not for sale but that it would cost at least $US500 million ($610.54 million) if it were to be sold on the spot. “That is no problem. It is such a cool machine,” the Russian was quoted as...

http://www.crossville-chronicle.com/local/local_story_172234222.html Russians with 105 pre-paid cell phones draw attention of police. This story caught my attention. What is with all the bulk cell phone buyers?

Russia is deploying a new series of nuclear tipped missiles with warheads designed with the aid of US supercomputers. The new Russian SS-X-27 missile is being moved directly into deployment with an advanced 550 kiloton nuclear warhead made by the Arzamas-16 nuclear design bureau. The original version of the TOPOL - mod 1 version - is designated the SS-25. This mobile missile is quite capable and can reach the US with a variety of weapons packages, including nuclear warheads of Russian design. In early 1997 Russian Atomic energy officials (MINATOM) admitted that an IBM super-computer was purchased from Europe by...

MOSCOW - Russia marked the anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany on Wednesday with soldiers bearing hammer-and-sickle banners goose-stepping through Red Square and President Vladimir Putin sending a veiled warning to Estonia over its relocation of a Soviet war memorial. On one of the most cherished holidays in the Russian calendar, veterans bedecked with medals joined officials across the country to lay flowers at graves and bask in the memory of the 1945 victory, one of the most glorious feats in the nation's troubled past. An estimated 27 million people died during the conflict known to most Russians as...

JEDDAH — Saudi Arabia and Russia have signed a $100 million deal for laying an oil pipeline in the world's biggest sand desert, Rub Al Khali (Empty Quarter). The agreement was signed in Dhahran recently between Saudi Aramco and Stroytransgaz, a construction arm of Russia's energy giant Gazprom. Ali Al Ajmi, vice-president of Saudi Aramco, signed the document on behalf of the Saudi side. The project will be fully implemented by the Russian partner, but workers from other countries would also be employed. Work on the proposed Sheyba-Abkayk oil pipeline, whose length exceeds 200 km (124 miles), will start in...

With Tehran continuing to move ahead with its nuclear plans, rumors persist the White House is planning a military strike on Iran in April.

A Russian general has threatened a tough response if the United States goes ahead with a plan to site a missile defence system in Poland and the Czech Republic. "If the governments of Poland and the Czech Republic take such a decision, the strategic missile force will be able to aim at these installations," said the force's head, General Nikolai Solovtsov, on Monday. Russia, he said, could easily restart production of medium-range missiles if the decision were taken to withdraw from a Cold War-era treaty, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), signed by Moscow and Washington in 1987. "If...

Russians are coming again, Tories warn By Christopher Hope, Whitehall Editor Last Updated: 1:16am GMT 19/02/2007 The Russians are using billions of dollars of oil profits to rearm, just as British defence chiefs prepare for cuts in the summer's Government spending review, the Conservatives have warned. Liam Fox, the party's defence spokesman, sounded the alarm about "the growing and accelerating rearmament in Russia" in a House of Commons debate. He claimed that President Vladimir Putin's government is planning to spend $183 billion (£94 billion) over the next nine years — or $1.7 billion (£900 million) a month — on its...

Advocates hope a survey will generate social services catering to the Eastern European population GOSIA WOZNIACKA The calls come from across the metro area. A boy is being expelled after threatening schoolmates with a baseball bat. A girl quits high school because she's getting married. A mother doesn't know what to do with children who have turned aggressive and refuse to attend school. They are Eastern European immigrants, and they "don't know where to go," says Vadim Riskin, the Russian community liaison for the Portland Public Schools. "And we don't have the resources to help them." Riskin, who came to...

POL-IRAN-RUSSIA-ADMIRAL Russian admiral predicts impending US strike against Iran MOSCOW, Jan 9 (KUNA) -- Former Russian Black Sea Fleet Commander Admiral Edward Baltin said Tuesday that the presence of so many nuclear submarines in the Arab Gulf waters pointed to likely plans for a US attack against Iran. Baltine, who was quoted by Interfax news agency, said the presence of US submarines in Gulf waters meant that Washington was contemplating a strike against Iran. "The presence of the submarines indicates that Washington has not abandoned plans to launch a sudden attack against Iran," the admiral said. He blamed Monday's collision...

Russians are pining for a white December By Adrian Blomfield in Moscow Last Updated: 1:51am GMT 19/12/2006 Russia is experiencing its warmest December since 1870, raising fears of serious economic consequences and prompting warnings about the effect the lack of snow is having on the national psyche. On Friday, the mercury hovered just below nine Celsius — 14 degrees above the average daily temperature for December. The weather has led to predictions of a dearth of grain and psychiatrists are worried about people's fragile emotional states. Companies selling fake frosted window patterns are doing a roaring trade as Russians try...

NORFOLK -– A military judge today sentenced Petty Officer 3rd Class Ariel J. Weinmann to 12 years in prison and a dishonorable discharge for espionage, desertion and other crimes. The 22-year-old submariner from Salem, Ore. admitted guilt to the offenses earlier this week at Norfolk Naval Station in a plea agreement that spared him the maximum potential penalty of life in prison with no possibility of parole. Weinmann, who deserted from the submarine Albuquerque in July 2005 after becoming disillusioned with the Navy, passed classified information about the Tomahawk cruise missile system to the Russians, according to a Pentagon source....

János HorváthThe 1956 Hungarian Revolution in the Eyes of Ronald Reagan* President Ronald Reagan had a great interest in and knowledge of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, and this knowledge helped to shape his world views and contributed to his morally firm statesmanship. Contrary to the conventional wisdom of his time, he understood that the Soviet Union was not the strong, stable superpower and the wave of the future that it pretended to be. Moreover, he was aware that the smaller nations that had been engulfed into its colonial empire strongly resented the yoke under which they were held. As President...

Fifty years on, revolution still divides Hungary By David Chance and Gergely Szakacs Fri Oct 20, 7:41 AM ET Freedom fighters sit on top of a tank with a revolutionary flag in Budapest at the time of the uprising against the Soviet-supported Hungarian communist regime in 1956. Hungary will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1956 uprising on October 23. The picture was taken in the period between October 23 and November 4, 1956. (Laszlo Almasi/Reuters) BUDAPEST (Reuters) - The diary of Gyula Csics for October 23, 1956, starts with a 12-year-old boy tending his grandfathers' graves and ends with...

MOSCOW, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Russian banks could be saddled with millions of dollars in bad loans if a drop in oil prices hits the incomes of middle class Russians who have been gorging on a glut of consumer credit. The spot price of Urals , Russia's export blend, has fallen from a peak of $73.65 per barrel in July to $55.12 on Wednesday, and analysts predict a sizable fallout for Russia. "My two major concerns about the Russian economy are the 2008 election and bad loans," said Tim Ash, analyst at Bear Stearns, referring to the vote to elect...

Russians 'in N Korea test talks' Mr Lavrov said North Korea must be persuaded back to talks Russia says it is in direct contact with North Korea to try to prevent it from carrying out its plan to test a nuclear weapon. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow was talking to the North Korean leadership in an attempt to dissuade it from conducting a test. It comes two days after North Korea said it would test a nuclear weapon. The announcement drew warnings from the international community to North Korea not to take such a step. The secretive communist...

MOSCOW, October 2 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Vladimir Putin warned any third country against encouraging Georgia to pursue a destructive policy in a telephone conversation Monday with his American counterpart, the Kremlin press service said. The United States has maintained close ties with Georgia since President Mikheil Saakashvili, a U.S.-educated fluent English speaker, came to power on the back of the 2003 "rose revolution." American military trainers have instructed Georgian troops and Washington said on Sunday that it was ready to provide $10 million to Tbilisi to help its bid to join NATO this year. "The Russian side highlighted...

Minarets tower over two of the tallest roller coasters in the world, on the flyer announcing today’s big event at Six Flags’ Great Adventure & Wild Safari.  On this day, the park will be “transformed,” as thousands of Islamists from across the northeast come together in Jackson, New Jersey for "The Great Muslim Adventure Day."  Regrettably, Muslims will be the only ones having fun, as non-Muslims have been told that they are not welcome. The event, which also goes by the name "Muslim Youth Day," is being sponsored by the New Jersey chapter of the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA),...

US sailor,who tried to sell secrets to Russians was arrested in March as he re-entered country.He is now detained as a deserter in Norfolk. Espionage charges may be filed soon. This is not the first attempt by Russia to obtain secrets,and probably won't be last. What's up with the Russians ?

Yesterday I visited Buchenwald concentration camp, the largest such camp in Germany (the larger ones Germany put outside of Germany.) Since it is my 4th time in Germany I felt kind of an obligation to visit it...a duty to face the truth in this beautiful land. Most of the camp is gone, almost all of the prisoner's barracks are. Outside the fence, about half the SS barracks are there--nicely painted yellow, with red tile roofs, resembling ten thousand other German buildings in other places. I had heard that birds don't roost inside the camp , and I think it may...

The Russians have allegedly sold weapons to countries such as Iran, Syria, Venezuela, and other terrorist-supporting nations. After the US-led invasion of Iraq, Russian-made weapons were found. As a result, the US government placed sanctions against American business dealings with two Russian companies selling arms and weapons systems to Iran. Russian President Vladimir Putin blasted the United States on Friday for imposing such sanctions on two Russian corporations. Putin called the sanctions an “illegitimate attempt to make foreign companies work by internal American rules,” after the US banned all American companies from dealing with two Russian firms that sold hardware...

General Yury Baluyevsky-Russia's #2 man in Defense-is unhappy over the American's missile defense system. What good is it to have 927 ICBMs if they can be destroyed in flight ? Details at: http://insidestraight.typepad.com/the_inside_straight/2006/08/us_and_russia_h.html

Guest of Honor: Ahmadinejad Washington pundits and policymakers have pooh-poohed the power of the SCO—to their own peril. At this year’s summit, the guest of honor is Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who will be pushing for the Islamic Republic’s full membership in the increasingly anti-American organization. Iran currently holds observer status, along with India, Pakistan, and Mongolia. Belarussian president Alexander Lukashenko is also knocking on the SCO’s doors to gain leverage against Russia, an SCO member.

the People’s Republic of China won’t help the U.S. rein in the rogue regime of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il -- which this week conducted a failed test of a missile designed to reach American cities -- then the U.S. should stop helping China with its own economic and technological development. China must support the U.S. position on North Korea in the U.N. Security Council or pay a price for not doing so. In response to North Korea’s missile tests, Japan has sponsored a resolution in the Security Council that would bar nations from giving North Korea money, material...

MOSCOW (AFP) - Forget politics, oligarchs and Chechnya. What Russians really want to ask their leader is when he lost his virginity, when he will legalise marijuana and when a giant fictional octopus sleeping at the bottom of the ocean will awaken. These are at least some of the most popular questions being put by Russian web surfers to President Vladimir Putin on the Yandex website in preparation for a July 6 interactive Internet question-and-answer session. Putin will respond via Internet in his first-ever webcast to some of the questions posted through the BBC Online and Yandex sites, where queries...

The rally last December was one of nearly a dozen paid-for protests organized by Russian émigrés in the U.S. in the past two years. They spent $150,000 to $200,000 in some months, accounting records indicate, to rally thousands of demonstrators near spots such as United Nations headquarters and the World Trade Center site. State-controlled Russian television, whose content is closely guided by Kremlin handlers, covered some of the events, often as the only news organ present, showing video of them on the evening news back home. Boris Barshevsky at a pay-for-protest rally in Queens, N.Y., last year. Organizers said the...

"You can never be optimistic about anything in our country because it will likely end up badly," is the sentiment of the old-timers in Russia. Youngsters who do NOT remember the Soviet times do not share this sentiment-- nor do they have the aversion to capitalism that their parents and grandparents no doubt have. Young girls wear spike-heeled boots and tread carefully to keep the mud off. They also manage bank branches that specialize in giving small loans to entrepreneurs. Start-ups were few and far between just a few years ago-- bank portfolios have tripled and clients doubled in some...

Venezuela has received its first delivery of tens of thousands of Russian assault rifles. It is the first batch out of a total of 100,000 Kalashnikov rifles which Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has ordered from Moscow.

Russia is holding talks with Venezuela to license the manufacture of Kalashnikov rifles there, Russia's state arms exporter has confirmed. On Tuesday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Russia planned to build two munitions plants in the country. Moscow has already signed a deal to supply Venezuela with 100,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles. The move is likely to worry the US, which regards Mr Chavez as a destabilising influence in the region. In May, the US State Department banned arms sales to Venezuela because of concern over its contacts with Iran and Cuba and what it called Venezuela's lack of support for...

Russian Church abroad backs reunion with Moscow Patriarchate San Francisco, May 17, Interfax - A San Francisco session of the Bishops' Council of the Russian Orthodox Church abroad has approved a resolution proposing a reunion with the Moscow Patriarchate, the Russian Church abroad said on its official website. The council will also adopt an act on interaction with the Moscow Patriarchate. Last week's All-Diaspora Convention agreed that "this creative deed must culminate in the restoration of the long-sought unity of the Russian Church," the resolution reads.

16 May 2006, 14:32 Orthodox Muscovites will resist gay parade if it ever takes place Moscow, May 16, Interfax - The Union of Orthodox Citizens believes that the protest against gay parade would support Russian demographic policy. ‘The latest address of the President to the Federal Assembly poses the demographic issue as essential for Russia’ sovereignty and national survival. Any apology of sexual perversion, including the so-called gay parade runs contrary to the presidential address,’ the Union’s statement circulated on Tuesday reads. The authors of the document are convinced that ‘if the authorities do not enforce the law to put...

15 May 2006, 15:02 Propaganda of homosexuality equal to suicide - expert Moscow, May 15, Interfax - Serafim Melentyev, head of the World Development Institute, actively backed the Russian Orthodox Church on the inadmissibility of advertising homosexuality. "Advertising homosexuality taking into consideration the disastrous demographic situation in the country is equal to suicide, as the patriarch said. In my opinion, this is the best wording," Melentyev said at a press conference on Monday in Moscow. This "should be the position not only of the church, but also of society," he said. "Today Russians are dying. And it is evident that...

May 15 2006 6:17PM Russians becoming more optimistic - poll MOSCOW. May 15 (Interfax) - Russians are becoming more optimistic, a poll conducted by the VTsIOM All-Russia Public Opinion Center shows. In April, the number of those who believe that their life will improve grew by around 30% compared with March, while the number of those expecting things to become worse dropped from 16% to 13%. Forty-three percent of respondents claimed they were satisfied with their lives. Eleven percent of those questioned were optimistic about the economic outlook, 31% negative.

SAN FRANCISCO: May 11, 2006 Resolution of the IV All-Diaspora Council of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia Christ is Risen! We, the participants of the IV All-Diaspora Council, having gathered in the God-preserved city of San Francisco, in the blessed presence of the Protectress of the Russian Diaspora, the Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother of God, and the holy relics of Saint John of Shanghai and San Francisco, in trembling recognition of the duty laid upon us, in obedience to our Archpastor, Christ, with complete trust and love of the pastors and laity to our First Hierarch, His...

05 May 2006, 09:52 Russians for Church to play more active role in society - poll Moscow, May 5, Interfax - Almost half of Russians (47%) would like the Church to more actively influence spiritual life of the society, while another 29% would like the Church to confine its activity purely to religious ceremonies and rituals, a poll conducted amongst 1,600 from 153 communities of 46 Russian regions by the All-Russian Center for Public Opinion Studies (VTsIOM) in April showed. Moreover, 18% of Russians want the Church to seriously influence not only the spiritual life of society, but also the...

05 May 2006, 11:42 Moscow Patriarchate official warns against threat of 'liberal totalitarianism' fraught with 'nuclear war of civilizations' Vienna, May 5, Interfax - The Russian Orthodox Church warns against a threat of 'new liberal totalitarianism', which needs to be avoided. 'Liberals often tell us: the train of globalization, integration, new world order is departing, and we have the last chance to jump in the last door of the last car. But we would sooner ask today: Do you know where this train is going? It may be heading for a precipice', Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, vice-chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate...

Wednesday, May 3, 2006 12:42 p.m. EDT Iran Went Nuclear Despite Secret Clinton Deal A secret 1995 agreement between the Clinton administration and then-Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin was supposed to halt the of nuclear technology and military equipment to Iran. But when the Russians continued to help build Iran's premier nuclear facility at Bushehr, the White House refused to impose sanctions. Under the accord hammered out by Chernomyrdin and then-Vice President Al Gore, Russia had agreed to end all weapons sales to Iran by Dec. 31, 1999. But after uncovering the confidential arrangement, the New York Times reported that...

02 May 2006, 11:51 Russian Orthodox, Roman Catholics to meet in Vienna Moscow, May 2, Interfax - An international Christian conference entitled "Give a Soul to Europe. Mission and Responsibility of Churches" will take place in Vienna on May 3-5. The conference is organized by the Pontifical Council for Culture and the Moscow Patriarchate's Department for Foreign Church Relations with the support of the Catholic organization Pro Oriente, the Moscow Patriarchate told Interfax. The modern challenges churches are facing today, such as globalization, the sects and secularization of society, will be on the agenda of the meeting between priests, journalists...

http://www.russianorthodoxchurch.ws/synod/eng2006/5eninterviewpa.html  MOSCOW: May 1, 2006   Responses of Patriarch ALEXY II of Moscow and All Russia on Questions From the Official Internet Site of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia   From the Editors: At the last joint meeting of the church Commissions held last February in New York, it was decided to address questions to the First Hierarchs of both parts of the Russian Church relating to the reconciliation process between the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia and the Moscow Patriarchate. This proposal was approved by the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of...

02 May 2006, 18:00 Russian Church Abroad must assess its history - Alexy II Moscow, May 2, Interfax - Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia said the history of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad "must" be studied in detail and objectively, which is "of importance." "Its history should be viewed from the canonical angle. But one must be aware that it's difficult to come to absolute and final unanimity while assessing all occurrences and historical figures. The whole truth can only be judged by God," the Russian patriarch said in an interview granted to the official website of...

02 May 2006 State Duma deputy urges Russian Church Outside Russia not to doom itself to role of ‘ethnographic museum of gone civilization’ Moscow, May 2, Interfax – Natalia Narochnitskaya, a State Duma deputy and well-known historian, suggests that the Russian Church Outside Russia cast away doubts as to the advisability of restoring unity with the Moscow Patriarchate. ‘Today’s doubts are like temptations endured by a person who wants to adopt baptism but the enemy of humankind whispers into his ear: Wait, you are not ready; don’t do it today but tomorrow!’ Narochnitskaya writes in her article published in Rossiyskaya...