Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

Tuesday, 4 November 2014

The European Union Times


Posted: 03 Nov 2014 02:54 PM PST



The United States refused to negotiate with Russia on the deployment of GLONASS navigation system on its territory, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said. According to him, there are no negotiations being conducted on the subject.
“We made the statement in spring. I offered to initiate talks with the United States to deploy GLONASS infrastructure on their territory. For the time of the talks, we offered to suspend the existence of GPS stations infrastructure on the territory of the Russian Federation. The Americans, against the backdrop of sanctions, did not agree to conduct any negotiations. That is the question makes zero sense in terms of perspective,” Rogozin said, TASS reports.
As a result, he continued, Russian specialists technically excluded the possibility to use GPS stations on the Russian territory for military purposes.
“I will not expand on how we did it for obvious reasons, but we did it,” said Rogozin. “We do not want to cut off the nose to spite our face to deprive our users of the ability to work with GLONASS and GPS. Why should we create fewer opportunities for our own people? But we have completely destroyed any prospect, even an indirect one, for the use of the American navigation system for our high-precision guidance weapons,” said the official.
At the same time, it was reported that Russia and China would discuss possible joint projects in the field of space exploration. According to Rogozin, the two countries cooperate in the field of space, working on “possible joint projects in the field of space exploration.” The official said that China and Russia were having a “pretty tumultuous relationship,” and “we would like to say a big thank you to Western countries for their active development.”
Chief analyst at nonprofit partnership GLONASS, Andrei Ionin, in an interview with Pravda.Ru, commented the news on the USA’s refusal to negotiate the deployment of GLONASS satellite system on the American territory.
“As a result of the refusal, Russian experts have completely excluded the technical ability to use GPS stations for military purposes on the territory of Russia. Does it mean that common people can do it, but the military can not?”
“No, the question is slightly different. It will not affect the population – no one will ban GPS in Russia. Yet, it will create inconveniences for the American side, for the bodies that manage the GPS system. This is rather a political move. That is, to effectively manage a group, it is desirable to place stations throughout the Earth’s surface. The Americans decided that in the 1990s, placing some stations on the territory of Russia, although they were formally scientific stations. No one will ban these stations, but information from them will be coming to the US GPS control center with delays, which will bring a possibility of using this information for military purposes down to zero.
“That is, it will not affect either the civil population of Russia, the world or scientists. Moreover, this is a diplomatic step, because the Americans, in my opinion, had no reasons to refuse Russia in installing such stations on their territory.
“Both GPS and GLONASS are systems of dual purpose, used by civil populations all over the globe, regardless of the country and the purpose of that use. The signal is free, which is fixed at the highest level.
“In addition, of course, the systems are used for military purposes. Each of these systems have specific signals of increased accuracy and reliability that the military use.”
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Posted: 03 Nov 2014 02:47 PM PST


Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says Kiev will reconsider its commitment to a ceasefire pact with pro-Russia forces after they held their own elections in the country’s east.
On Monday, Poroshenko described the recent presidential and parliamentary elections in the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk as “a gross violation” of a September truce deal between Ukraine and pro-Russians, to which Moscow is also a signatory.
Poroshenko said that on Tuesday, he and the country’s security chiefs would “re-examine” Kiev’s commitments to the agreement, which could include “abolition” of a significant element in the truce that offered the pro-Russians autonomy within Ukraine’s existing borders.
The comments came as the newly-elected president of Donetsk, Alexander Zakharchenko, accused Kiev of rejecting peace, saying, “Ukraine does not want peace, as it claims. Obviously it is playing a double game.”
Moscow, meanwhile, has said it “respects” the results of the local elections in eastern Ukraine, adding that the vote would help re-establish “normal life in the region.”
Russia has also urged Ukraine to end its military operations in the east and engage in negotiations with pro-Russians on equal terms.
“This work can bring results only on condition of equal dialogue based on mutual respect, with Kiev renouncing military operations and the notorious ‘anti-terror operation’,” said Russian deputy foreign minister, Grigory Karasin.
The two mainly Russian-speaking regions of Donetsk and Lugansk have been the scene of deadly clashes between pro-Russia protesters and the Ukrainian army since Kiev’s military operation started in mid-April in a bid to crush the protests.
Violence intensified in May after the two flashpoint regions held local referendums in which their residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence from Ukraine and joining the Russian Federation.
On September 5, a truce agreement was signed by representatives of Ukraine, Russia, the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), and the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) in Minsk, Belarus, in an effort to halt the war in eastern Ukraine.
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Posted: 03 Nov 2014 02:40 PM PST

A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds that almost three quarters of Americans want to see government enforced mandatory quarantines for health workers returning from West Africa.
A whopping 71% of respondents said they felt health workers who have treated Ebola sufferers abroad should be subject to a 21-day isolation, even if they show no symptoms of the virus themselves.
Just 24 percent disagree that the quarantine should be enforced.
When split by political affiliation, 85% of Republicans support quarantine, compared to 65% of Democrats and 60% of independents. A huge 91% of Tea Party backers say they want to see mandatory government detentions.
The debate over the issue has been amplified by the case of the nurse Kaci Hickox, who threatened to sue the states of New Jersey and Maine for issuing quarantine orders which led to her brief detention when she returned from working with Ebola patients in Sierra Leone.
Hickox was held for days in an isolation tent in New Jersey, then had state police deployed to monitor her at her home in Maine.
Hickox has since vowed to avoid public places, with her attorneys and the state having agreed that a temporary court order issued Friday, requiring her to submit to active monitoring in line with the federal guidelines for Ebola, will remain in place until 11:59 p.m. Monday, Nov. 10, when the 21-day incubation period for Ebola expires.
The state originally issued a court order that restricted her movements and contact with others altogether, but retracted the order a few hours later. It is thought that the White House pressured the State into reversing the order.
Appearing on CNN’s State of the Union Sunday, Senator Rand Paul discussed the issue of enforced quarantine, noting “The libertarian in me is sort of horrified at the idea of indefinitely detaining anyone without a trial.”

“One of the basic rights we inherited from the English and that we got from common law was the right of habeas corpus, to present the body.” Paul added.
“If the king were detaining you in the Tower of London or a governor or anybody who is detaining you, you have to have recourse to a lawyer and to a judge.” the Senator, currently preparing a 2016 presidential campaign, continued.
“We have to be very careful of people’s civil liberties, but I’m not saying the government doesn’t have a role in trying to prevent contagion,” Paul added. “The libertarian in me says she has to have recourse to a lawyer, to a judge, and if she is going to be confined, it has to be through a judicial process.”
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Posted: 03 Nov 2014 02:32 PM PST
Scottish First Minister
Scotland’s outgoing First Minister Alex Salmond has lashed out at the Labour Party over campaigning with Conservatives against Scottish independence.
Salmond said Labour in Scotland “will pay the price for a generation”. The comments came as opinion polls suggested that Labour was already facing a downfall in Scotland following the referendum.
The Scottish Nationalist Party leader added that anger is growing at the way the party had been prepared to unite with the Tories to campaign for a No vote.
“The role, hand-in-glove, shoulder-to-shoulder with the Conservative Party in the referendum campaign is not going to be either forgotten or forgiven for a generation in Scottish politics,” he said.
Still, Salmond refused to rule out the possibility of the Scottish Nationalist Party joining a coalition with Labour if another parliament is hung at Westminster.
He stressed that despite the failure in September, Scots would continue to push for independence and will eventually leave the United Kingdom.
“The great thing is it will be actually determined by the Scottish people, not the views of any single politician”, he said.
Latest opinion polls suggest that over one thirds of Scots support another vote on their separation from Britain within the next ten years and over half want a referendum on their independence in just five years.
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Posted: 03 Nov 2014 11:52 AM PST


China has developed and successfully tested a highly accurate laser defense system against light drones. The homemade machine boasts a two-kilometer range and can down “various small aircraft” within five seconds of locating its target.
Boasting high speed, great precision and low noise, the system is aimed at destroying unmanned, small-scale drones flying under an altitude of 500 meters and at speeds below 50 meters per second, the official Xinhua news agency reported, citing a statement by one of the developers, the China Academy of Engineering Physics (CAEP).
A recent test saw the machine successfully bring down over 30 drones – a 100-percent success rate, according to the statement. The laser system is expected to play a key role in ensuring security during major events in urban areas.
“Intercepting such drones is usually the work of snipers and helicopters, but their success rate is not as high and mistakes with accuracy can result in unwanted damage,” explained Yi Jinsong, a manager with China Jiuyuan Hi-Tech Equipment Corp.
Yi told Xinhua that small-scale, unmanned drones are relatively cheap and easy to use, which makes them a lucrative choice for terrorists. Concerns have also been raised recently over drones involved in unlicensed mapping activities, and the negative effect this could have on both military and civil aerial activities.
The academy is currently working on developing similar laser security systems with greater power and range, the Chinese news agency reported.
The drone industry has been booming in recent years, with the challenge to build small, hard-to-track drones that are difficult shoot down.
The US military is to get a new drone, small enough to fit into a uniform pocket, weighing a mere 80 grams. The so-called Extreme Access Pocket Flyer can fly for two hours, transmitting HD-quality video the whole time, without resorting to Wi-Fi.
According to a report by the independent, nonprofit, public policy institute, Stimson, the US has the “world’s largest and most sophisticated fleet of weaponized UAVs,” though America is “not likely to remain the world leader in the development of innovative UAV technologies.”
US military forces had at least 678 drones in service in 2012, according to a study by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, as reported by the Guardian.
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Posted: 02 Nov 2014 11:34 AM PST


Incumbent PM Aleksandr Zakharchenko is leading in Sunday’s elections in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine, taking over 70 percent of the votes. In Lugansk, 63 percent are voting for the current leader Igor Plotnitsky.
Zakharchenko is ahead of his rivals with over 70 percent of votes after half of the votes have been counted, the head of the Central Election Commission of the DPR, Roman Lyagin, said on Sunday evening.
He was trailed by Aleksandr Kofman, deputy speaker of the Novorossiya Union parliament, and Yury Sivokonenko, an MP from the local Supreme Council.
Meanwhile, the lead in the parliamentary elections, also held on Sunday, is being claimed by Zakharchenko’s Donetsk Republic party, which has 65.11 percent, the head of the Election Commission added citing exit poll. The rival Svobodniy Donbass party is collecting 34.89 percent of the votes.
In Lugansk, the incumbent leader and head of the Peace to Lugansk Region movement, Igor Plotnitsky, has secured 63 percent of the votes, according to a preliminary count cited by RIA Novosti. The party has won 69 percent of votes, while some 24 percent voted for its closest rival, the Lugansk Economic Union.
Members of the self-defense forces cast their votes during the elections for the leader and the People’s Council of the Donetsk People’s Republic.
The self-proclaimed people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk took to polling stations to vote for their leaders and MPs on Sunday. Over 360 polling stations were open in Donetsk for three million potential voters. Meanwhile, 102 polling stations for approximately 1.5 million voters were open in Lugansk.
In Lugansk, the overall turnout exceeded 60 percent, according to the head of the Central Election Commission in the LPR, Sergey Kozyakov. He added that by 8p.m. local time, nearly 630,000 residents had come to cast their votes.
Kiev has said it will not recognize the elections, as they contradict Ukrainian legislation. Ukraine’s Security Service has opened a criminal case against the organizers of the elections in Donetsk and Lugansk.
EU’s new foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini has also spoken out against the elections, arguing that it will be an obstacle to reconciliation in Ukraine.
“I consider today’s ‘presidential and parliamentary elections’ in Donetsk and Luhansk ‘People’s Republics’ a new obstacle on the path towards peace in Ukraine. The vote is illegal and illegitimate, and the European Union will not recognise it,” Mogherini said in a statement.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko condemned the elections as illegitimate on Sunday and called on Russia not to recognize the results. “I count on Russia not to recognize the so-called elections because they are a clear violation of the September 5 Minsk protocol, which was also signed by Russia’s representative,” he said in a statement.
However, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement late on Sunday saying that Moscow “respects the expression of will of the south-eastern [Ukrainians].” The ministry noted a high turnout and reminded that in the current situation it is “extremely important” for Kiev to work on conducting dialogue with the people of the region.
Luhansk residents cast their votes at a polling station during the elections for the head and the People’s Council of the Luhansk People’s Republic.
Moscow earlier pointed out that according to the Minsk peace agreements, elections in both Ukraine and the self-proclaimed republics should be conducted between October 19 and November 3.
Thus Poroshenko’s order from October 16, which set the date of elections in the self-proclaimed republics for December 7, “contradicts the Minsk agreements,” said the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Ukraine conducted parliamentary elections on October 26.
No serious violations of public order were reported during the Sunday elections in the DPR. “We have no reports about incidents at polling stations,” a DPR Interior Ministry spokesman told TASS news agency. Minor incidents included a false bomb threat.
International observers said the elections in the self-proclaimed republics followed democratic standards, adding that they saw no violations during the process.
An MP from the Upper Chamber of Italy’s Parliament, Lucio Malan, acting as an observer at the elections in Donetsk, told RT that people “were not influenced in any way” during the vote.
“The prevention of double or triple voting appeared to be good, up to international standards” he added.
“What was possible for us to see and what we witnessed is that they fit completely into generally accepted democratic electoral standards,” Manuel Ochsenreiter, a German observer in Lugansk, told RT. “What was really impressing – the masses of people at the polling stations, standing sometimes for hours just to put their vote, to express their political will.”
“First I believe the elections followed international standards of democratic elections. I was very impressed with the enthusiasm and the vigor with which the people went to the polls to express their opinion,” US Senior Attorney Frank Abernathy, an observer in Lugansk, told RT.
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Posted: 02 Nov 2014 11:21 AM PST
US Senate floor
Americans will go to the polls on Tuesday to vote for their congressional representatives, both in the House of Representatives and in the Senate, their governors and their state representatives.
They will elect 435 members of the House of Representatives, 33 senators, 38 governors and 46 state legislatures.
The House of Representatives is already controlled by the Republicans and polls show it will stay that way.
Republicans need to pick up six more seats from Democrats in order to muster Senate majority. This will enable them to have control of both congressional chambers for the first time since 2006.
According to a forecast by the New York Times ,“The Republicans have a moderate edge, with about a 70% chance of gaining a majority.”
The Washington Post also reports that “Republicans are on the cusp of taking control of the Senate in Tuesday’s elections, with Democrats now dependent on their ability to navigate an increasingly narrow path to maintain their majority by the slimmest of margins.”
“In a campaign year marked by unending negativity and voter disgust toward Washington, strategists in both camps agree that Republicans are almost certain to pick up five of the six seats they need to regain control. They have many opportunities to grab an additional seat and, if things break decisively in their direction, could easily claim the majority. Democrats’ hopes of holding on largely depend on whether they can take one or two seats currently in Republican hands,” the Post says.
In the eyes of some critics, the monopolization of power by either of the two major parties has made the US a two party dictatorship.
American businessman and Libertarian politician, Gary Earl Johnson, says “The Republicans and Democrats have spent decades trading power back and forth between themselves, and in doing so, have managed to install a two-party duopoly that completely controls America’s political process. This duopoly runs everything from how candidates qualify to get on the ballot, to who is invited to the only debates aired on national television, to, yes, the special-interest money that fuels their billion-dollar campaigns.”
Writing for the Johns Hopkins News Letter, Agastya Mondal, says “The American two-party system is broken and in need of desperate reform. Through the Constitution, the Founders aimed to set up a system of representative government that would respond to the people. Unfortunately their vision has been corrupted by the rise of the two-party system. If we are to have a government that responds to its citizens, the two-party system must be abolished.”
American political activist Kevin Zeese says “The solutions to the critical issues facing the country (the US) are evident to many but the corporate interests who profit from the status quo prevent real change. The electoral system is closed to all but the corporate parties. To transform the government into one that puts the peoples interests before those of the economic elite, will require a showing of power. It will require an ongoing, independent movement that demands real change and has the power to insist on it … Are the people of the United States ready to face the reality of the corruption of US elections and the lack of representation and do something about it? History is knocking. The time is now to answer.”
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Posted: 02 Nov 2014 11:20 AM PST

President Obama is the “most racist president there has ever been in America,” according to American political and economic commentator Ben Stein.
The economist and actor appeared on Fox News’ America News Headquarters on Sunday to discuss Obama’s domestic economic policies, which Stein says are racially dividing America.
“This president is the most racist president there has ever been in America,” Stein said to Fox’s Shannon Bream. “He is purposely trying to use race to divide Americans.”
He also pointed out that the number of Americans on welfare has vastly increased during Obama’s presidency and that the cuts to welfare programs have been miniscule despite claims by Democrats that the cuts, spearheaded by Republicans, are hurting minorities.
“More people are on food stamps than ever,” Stein said. “More people are getting welfare than ever.”
“What cuts are they talking about?”
“More people are getting subsidized healthcare than ever,” he continued. “What cuts are they talking about?”
“It’s all a way to racially divide voting in this country.”
Stein also rejected the Obama administration’s claim that they are not using race to divide Americans.
“They’re handing out pamphlets about this – and it’s been described a lot in the Wall Street Journal – [that say] ‘look, the Republican candidates are targeting President Obama because he’s black and you’re black, so you gotta go out and support him,” he stated. “That’s just nonsense.”
“The Republicans are the most pro-black party there’s ever been.”
“The Republicans are the ones who passed all the civil rights laws back in the 60s, not the Democrats,” he added.
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Posted: 02 Nov 2014 11:10 AM PST


Former US Secretary of State James Baker says he had barred current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from the State Department when he was a senior Israeli official.
“I barred him from the State Department,” Baker told CNN on Sunday. “That may not be widely known.”
Baker explained that he had made the decision after Netanyahu said that “American policy in the Middle East is based on lies and distortions” during the George H.W. Bush administration.
An interview by an anonymous American official about Netanyahu published last week has escalated tensions between Washington and Tel Aviv.
The US official described Netanyahu as a “chickenshit.”
Baker also said he had his own problems with Netanyahu when he was secretary of state.
“These kinds of things can happen from time to time,” Baker said. “There are always tensions in all foreign policy relationships, even with allies. But it can be overcome.”
Relations between the Obama administration and Tel Aviv have been strained over a number of issues.
Last month, the United States criticized Israel’s plan to build more than 1,000 settler units in the occupied Palestinian lands.
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Posted: 02 Nov 2014 10:56 AM PST


Ukraine’s volunteer battalion leader, who is now also an MP, said on a Ukrainian television show that the battalions are ready to “intrude” into Russia. He spoke about intended terrorist acts before being cut off by the show’s host.
“I will speak on behalf of the volunteer battalions, because I have more information…Today we are ready not just to defend [Ukraine], but to invade the Russian Federation, break into it with reconnaissance detachments and sabotage groups,” the leader of the Dnepr-1 (Dnipro-1) battalion Yury Bereza said on Sunday during the ‘Shuster Live’ TV show.
Bereza spoke about carrying out bombings inside Russia before he was cut off by the show’s host, who said the comments made “people nervous.”
The Ukrainian military commander of the battalion, sponsored by Ukrainian oligarch Igor Kolomoisky, recently became a lawmaker after being elected to the country’s parliament.
Bereza was recently criticized in the media after reports appeared that he ran away from the heavy battle scene near the town of Ilovaysk in eastern Ukraine, leaving his volunteer troops behind. Kiev’s fighters were encircled by local self-defense forces in the area, with Ukrainian officials later announcing hundreds of casualties.
After the Ilovaysk failure, Bereza announced he would “be drinking beer on the ruins of the Moscow Kremlin.”
During a meeting with people in a Ukrainian town after the parliamentary elections, Bereza also shared his intentions of becoming the country’s new defense minister.
Bereza’s volunteer battalion is one of dozens of units formed this year by Maidan activists and ultranationalists of the Right Sector umbrella group in Ukraine. As an irregular force assisting Kiev in its military assault on eastern Ukraine, such groups have been reported to be using fierce tactics.
The recent UN report on the human rights situation in Ukraine covering the period of August 18 to September 16 accused volunteer battalions, such as Dnepr-1, of violating international humanitarian law – “including the principles of military necessity, distinction, proportionality and precaution.”
Specific evidence of “beatings, poor nutrition and lack of medical assistance” are also mentioned in the report. The UN expressed special concern over the “enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention and ill-treatment allegedly perpetrated by members of the volunteer battalions,” in particular Dnepr-1.
“The government needs to exercise more control over all of its forces, including the volunteer battalions, and to ensure accountability for any violations and crimes committed by their members,” the UN report stated.
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Posted by Roberto Abraham Scaruffi at 10:02