Here are some recent events concerning Russia and Putin. These are just snippets. Feel free to click on the links to get the rest of the articles…
canada.com/ottawacitizen/…3-77d3f43c8638
‘The Arctic is Russian,’ expedition leader says of quest to plant flag at Earth’s most northerly point
MOSCOW - A Russian expedition sailed yesterday for the North Pole, where it plans to send a submarine crew to plant a flag on the seabed and symbolically claim the Arctic for the Kremlin.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Anger as Russians try to claim North Pole
news.com.au/heraldsun/sto…42-663,00.html
RUSSIA has provoked an international outcry after announcing it will claim much of the Arctic Circle.
Moscow has dispatched a submarine under the North Pole that is expected to arrive on Sunday to plant a titanium flag on the seabed.
The mission is part of a race to assert rights over the area, which is rich in energy reserves.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Growing Ties between China and Russia
voanews.com/english/2007-08-08-voa45.cfm
Members of the six-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organization, or SCO, begin military exercises August 9. The nine-day drill, dubbed Peace Mission 2007, involves the military forces of China, four central Asian countries [Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan], and Russia, the host nation. The dominant SCO forces are those of Russia and China, which are also expanding their cultural and economic links. VOA Moscow Correspondent Peter Fedynsky reports annual trade has already reached $40 billion.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Russia tests powerful non-nuclear bomb, the “Dad of all bombs”
MOSCOW, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) – Russia has developed a new type of bomb, also known as fuel-air bomb, which was claimed as the most powerful non-nuclear bomb, a senior officer said in a TV interview on Tuesday.
“The results of tests of the aviation explosive device have shown that it is comparable with nuclear weapons in its efficiency and potential,” Alexander Rukshin, a deputy chief of the Russian armed forces staff, said on Channel One television.
By spraying a special burnable material, the bomb will make great shockwave and high temperature, which is more destructive than TNT, Rukshin said.
Russia has nicknamed the new bomb “Father of All Bombs,” saying it is four times powerful than the U.S. vacuum bomb, the “Mother of All Bombs,” Channel One said.
The Russian bomb carries less explosive material than the U.S. one and the temperature in the epicenter of the blast is twice as high. Besides, the Russian bomb’s burst area is 300 meters, broader than the U.S. ranger of 150 meters, Channel One said.
news.xinhuanet.com/english/20…nt_6706852.htm
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Kremlin chief ‘sacked to pave way for Putin’
telegraph.co.uk/news/main…/wputin110.xml
It was, as has become customary in Vladimir Putin’s Russia, a supremely Soviet-style sacking.
A brief and uninformative item posted by the Interfax news agency yesterday morning tersely reported that Igor Ivanov, the secretary of the Kremlin’s potentially extremely powerful security council, had “resigned” a fortnight ago to pursue academic interests.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Putin Cements His Grip
washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn…d=opinionsbox1
MOSCOW – With Vladimir Putin’s announcement this week that he would head the pro-Kremlin United Russia party in December’s parliamentary elections, Russia’s new power configuration began to take shape. Ultimately, it will mean the extension of Putin’s authority and a triumph of manipulative politics. But as they have demonstrated, the Russian people won’t mind.
The dynamic Putin has created, ensuring himself nearly absolute power, has one important flaw of his own making: Because his authority is much greater than what is spelled out formally in the constitution, and it his alone, there is no way for Putin to transfer his power after, as the constitution requires, he steps down when his second term ends. This is why Putin has to thoroughly control the transition – lest Russia itself becomes unmanageable.
