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/ 27 October 2007
Vladimir Putin stirred ghosts of the Cold War on Friday by comparing the Pentagon’s plan to site elements of its missile shield in Europe to the Cuban missile crisis of 1962 when the United States and the Soviet Union went to the brink of nuclear war. The Kremlin’s challenge to the US president in 1962 triggered the worst confrontation of the Cold War.
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/ 24 October 2007
Russia and the European Union (EU) have agreed to set up an early warning system which will alert them to any disruptions to gas and oil supplies flowing through Russian pipelines. Russia is one of the EU’s main energy suppliers, pumping oil and gas through its pipeline systems west across Belarus and Ukraine into Europe.
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/ 18 October 2007
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday announced ”grandiose” military plans, including development of a new nuclear weapon, and attacked United States policies in Iraq and Iran. Putin, who must step down at the end of his second term next year, also confirmed that he wants to retain major political influence.
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/ 18 October 2007
Iran on Thursday shrugged off a warning by United States President George Bush that its nuclear programme could lead to ”World War III”, saying his remarks only served to show up Washington’s failures. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mohammad Ali Hosseini said the ”war-mongering” policies of neo-conservatives in the US had reached a dead end.
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/ 18 October 2007
Russia launched an inter-continental ballistic missile on Thursday from its Plesetsk cosmodrome in the north of the country, a Russian military spokesperson said. The RS-12M Topol’, called the SS-25 Sickle by Nato and configured for a mobile platform, was successfully launched at 9.10am Moscow time.
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/ 15 October 2007
Russian President Vladimir Putin will arrive in Tehran as planned on Monday evening, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said, after reports about a possible plot to assassinate him during his visit for a Caspian Sea summit. Iran has dismissed as baseless reports of a possible plan to kill Putin, branding the allegation as ”pyschological warfare” calculated by Tehran’s enemies.
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/ 12 October 2007
Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened on Friday in talks with United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to abandon a key nuclear-missile treaty, while also telling Washington to freeze plans for a European anti-missile shield. The Kremlin leader said the Cold War-era INF treaty limiting Russian and US short- and medium-range missiles was outmoded.
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/ 12 October 2007
It is an intriguing image. Shot among the birch trees and snow of a Siberian forest, two policemen kiss each other passionately on the lips. They hold and possibly caress each other’s buttocks. But the work by a Russian art collective has proved too much for Russia’s Culture Minister, Alexander Sokolov.
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/ 11 October 2007
Russia’s latest outburst of passive-aggressive paranoia, aimed at Britain in particular, may reflect a realisation in the Kremlin that Western resistance to its perceived bullying of neighbours, disdain for civil and human rights, and cut-throat energy policy is growing after years of blind eyes, held noses and wishful thinking.
Workers rebuilding a 19th-century Moscow house unearthed the remains of nearly three dozen people apparently dating back to the era of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin’s political purges nearly 70 years ago, police officials said on Thursday. Police also found a rusted pistol on the estate where the remains of an estimated 34 people were discovered.
If it achieves nothing else, the visit by the South Korean President, Roh Moo-hyun, will at least make its mark on one of North Korea’s most spectacular and unusual tourist attractions. The International Friendship Exhibition Hall is a monument to the price that dignitaries pay when courting one of the world’s most reclusive nations.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday gave the strongest hint yet that he will remain at the centre of power in Russia for the forseeable future, saying the possibility of him becoming prime minister after the presidential election in March was ”entirely realistic”.
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/ 13 September 2007
Russia’s military on Wednesday announced that it had successfully tested a lethal new air-delivered bomb, which it described as the world’s most powerful non-nuclear weapon. Officials said Moscow had developed the new thermobaric bomb to add to its already potent nuclear arsenal.
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/ 12 September 2007
President Vladimir Putin accepted the resignation on Wednesday of his prime minister and government, paving the way for the Russian leader to hand-pick a successor when he steps down next year. The resignation of Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov and the entire Cabinet was shown on state-run Vesti television.
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/ 9 September 2007
Asia-Pacific leaders tackled security issues, including food safety, on the last day of their summit on Sunday. Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said leaders of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum would turn to ”human security” issues at their retreat in Sydney Opera House.
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/ 7 September 2007
United States President George Bush said on Friday the United States would be willing to consider a peace treaty with North Korea if it gave up its nuclear weapons programme. ”We’re looking forward to the day when we can end the Korean War.” Bush told reporters after meeting South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun.
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/ 3 September 2007
It is, quite simply, Russia’s most breathtakingly beautiful city. However, St Petersburg, Russia’s second city and former imperial capital, is in danger of being chucked off Unesco’s list of world heritage sites because of plans to build a 300m high skyscraper in its historic centre.
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/ 3 September 2007
United States President George Bush hopes to spur momentum for a world trade pact and a global target on climate change at this week’s Asia-Pacific summit but the Iraq debate at home looms as a distraction. Bush will meet in Sydney with the leaders of Australia, China, Japan, Russia and other members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum.
Relations between Russia and Britain were facing fresh turbulence on Wednesday after a billionaire oligarch wanted by the Kremlin for tax evasion was reported to have escaped to London. Mikhail Gutseriyev — the former head of one of Russia’s largest private oil firms — disappeared from Russia last week.
Russia’s chief prosecutor, Yuri Chaika, announced on Monday that 10 people had been arrested in connection with the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, which he blamed on a Chechen Mafia boss and rogue elements in Russia’s security services. But he hinted that the real mastermind behind the plot was a Russian citizen living abroad.
Who is …. Vladimir Putin?