Putin: NATO coalition has no right to kill Gadhafi msnbc.com

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COPENHAGEN — Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin sharply criticized the Western coalition attacking Libya on Tuesday, saying it had neither a right nor a mandate to kill Moammar Gadhafi.

Putin said the coalition had gone beyond the bounds of a U.N. Security Council resolution authorizing intervention to protect civilians and suggested Gadhafi's actions did not justify foreign interference, let alone attempts to remove him.
"They said they didn't want to kill Gadhafi. Now some officials say, yes, we are trying to kill Gadhafi," Putin said on a visit to Denmark. "Who permitted this, was there any trial? Who took on the right to execute this man, no matter who he is?"
Putin spoke as Britain and the United States discussed stepping up military pressure on Gadhafi, who has survived more than a month of NATO air strikes.

"The country's whole infrastructure is being destroyed, and in essence one of the warring sides is attacking under the cover of aircraft," Putin said at a news conference after talks with his Danish counterpart Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen.
"When the entire so-called civilized community falls upon a small country with all its might, destroys infrastructure created over generations -- I don't know, is that good or not?" Putin said. "I don't like it."
Shortly after Putin spoke, Libyan state news agency Jana said Libya had urged Russia to call an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council to discuss "Western aggression."
In Moscow, Russia's Foreign Ministry said nobody was available to comment on the report.
Putin called Gadhafi's Libya "crooked" but said that did not justify intervention.

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China, Russia quit dollar

Be sure to see the link for the rest of the article from China Daily.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-11/24/content_11599087.htm

Premier Wen Jiabao shakes hands with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on a visit to St. Petersburg on Tuesday.ALEXEY DRUZHININ / AFP

St. Petersburg, Russia - China and Russia have decided to renounce the US dollar and resort to using their own currencies for bilateral trade, Premier Wen Jiabao and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin announced late on Tuesday.

Related readings: Russia, China pledge to save the tiger New power bridge across Russia-China border completed China, Russia reach consensus on energy cooperation Highlights of Chinese premier's activities in Russia

Chinese experts said the move reflected closer relations between Beijing and Moscow and is not aimed at challenging the dollar, but to protect their domestic economies.

"About trade settlement, we have decided to use our own currencies," Putin said at a joint news conference with Wen in St. Petersburg.

The two countries were accustomed to using other currencies, especially the dollar, for bilateral trade. Since the financial crisis, however, high-ranking officials on both sides began to explore other possibilities.

The yuan has now started trading against the Russian rouble in the Chinese interbank market, while the renminbi will soon be allowed to trade against the rouble in Russia, Putin said.

"That has forged an important step in bilateral trade and it is a result of the consolidated financial systems of world countries," he said.

Putin made his remarks after a meeting with Wen. They also officiated at a signing ceremony for 12 documents, including energy cooperation.

The documents covered cooperation on aviation, railroad construction, customs, protecting intellectual property, culture and a joint communiqu. Details of the documents have yet to be released.

Putin said one of the pacts between the two countries is about the purchase of two nuclear reactors from Russia by China's Tianwan nuclear power plant, the most advanced nuclear power complex in China.

Putin has called for boosting sales of natural resources - Russia's main export - to China, but price has proven to be a sticking point.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin, who holds sway over Russia's energy sector, said following a meeting with Chinese representatives that Moscow and Beijing are unlikely to agree on the price of Russian gas supplies to China before the middle of next year.

Russia is looking for China to pay prices similar to those Russian gas giant Gazprom charges its European customers, but Beijing wants a discount. The two sides were about $100 per 1,000 cubic meters apart, according to Chinese officials last week.

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New powers given to Russia's security agency

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New powers given to Russia's security agency

about a minute ago from todaysworld

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  read more on www.ibrii.com
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  read more on www.ibrii.com
  MOSCOW – The upper house of Russia's parliament on Monday passed a bill granting expanded powers to the country's main security agency, a move that critics say echoes the era of the Soviet KGB.
  The bill, which now goes to President Dmitry Medvedev to be signed into law, would allow the Federal Security Service to issue warnings to people suspected of preparing to commit crimes against Russia's security.
  Human rights and democracy activists say this power could be used to intimidate government opponents and stifle protests.
  "This law is targeted against the opposition ... It's a draconian law which is unprecedented in the world and is reminiscent of our repressive past," Boris Nemtsov, a leader of the opposition Solidarity movement, was quoted as saying by the news agency Interfax.
  The security service is the main successor agency to the KGB.
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  read more on www.ibrii.com
  The bill was approved by the upper house by a vote of 121-1. The sole vote against was cast by the house's speaker, Sergei Mironov, who said he had was apprehensive about the measure.
  Opposition groups frequently are denied permission to hold rallies or are allowed to hold them only in out-of-the-way neighborhoods. Riot police often break up unsanctioned rally attempts swiftly and brutally.
  The bill has raised doubts about President Dmitry Medvedev's commitment to promoting full-fledged democracy and freedom of expression. Medvedev often has spoken of instituting judicial and police reforms, and has taken a less hard line on many issues than his predecessor Vladimir Putin, a former KGB agent and later head of the FSB.

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Chechen rebels say responsible for Moscow bombings

clipped from news.yahoo.com Play Video Reuters  – Russia mourns after suicide attacks MOSCOW – A Chechen militant leader has claimed responsibility for twin suicide bombings on Moscow's subway that killed 39 and wounded scores of others. Doku Umarov, who leads Islamic militants in Chechnya and nearby regions of Russia's North Caucasus, says in a statement posted on a pro-rebel Web site that the attacks were an act of revenge for the killing of civilians by Russian security forces. Umarov's statement posted Wednesday said the attacks on Russian cities will continue. Russian authorities have said that the bombings, the first terror attacks in Moscow in six years, were carried out by militants from North Caucasus. MAKHACHKALA, Russia (AP) — Two suicide bombers targeted authorities in southern Russia on Wednesday, killing 12 people, including nine police officers. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said the blasts may have been organized by the same militants who attacked the Moscow subway.

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Israel mulling a spring or summer war: Ahmadinejad

clipped from uk.news.yahoo.com Related photos / videos Israeli soldiers take part in an army exercise at the Shizafon base Enlarge photo President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday that Iran's arch-foe Israel was mulling starting a war "next spring or summer" but has yet to make a final decision. Skip related content Without specifying whom would be targeted, Ahmadinejad said: "According to information we have they (Israel) are seeking to start a war next spring or summer, although their decision is not final yet." "But the resistance and regional states will finish them if this fake regime does anything again," the hardliner said at a press conference when asked about ongoing efforts to reconcile ties between Arabs and Israel. "We are not planning any war," Netanyahu said in Moscow following talks with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. "They are doing different manipulations," Netanyahu said. Iran says will not give up nuclear work at any price

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The Russians are coming - the week that was

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  Frontlines: The Russians are coming | Front Lines - the week that was | Jerusalem Post
  "In a luxury hotel at Suweima, on the eastern shores of the Dead Sea, the Russians held a "Track II" conference this week designed to send a clear message to the Arab world: "We are back." Medvedev talks alongside... Medvedev talks alongside Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, not pictured, after they signed bilateral accords at the Presidential Palace in Cairo on Tuesday. Photo: AP The conference, covered widely in the Arab world but hardly at all in Israel, took place just weeks after the re-launch - after an absence of some 18 years - of an Arabic version of the Moscow News. It also comes at a time of diplomatic stagnation in the Middle East that has led to increased calls from many quarters - particularly the Palestinians and the EU - for various actors in the international community to step in and impose a solution on the parties. Russia, obviously, wants to be one of these actors. Hence the two-day conference, part of the Valdai Discussion Club, put on jointly by the Ria Novosti, the Russian News and Information Agency funded by the government, and the Russian Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, the equivalent to the Council on Foreign relations in the US. The organizers invited a slew of Mideast experts from Russia and the region - including Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, the "State of Palestine," Saudi Arabia, Syria and Turkey, with a couple of people from the UK, US and France thrown in for good measure - to discuss whether a comprehensive settlement is possible in the Middle East by 2020. The hope of the conference, said Sergei Karaganov of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy at its outset, was to "generate fresh ideas." Forget about it. The real agenda, it seems, was to implant in the Arab public a sense that Russia has returned to the region and is a player. Some 50 Arab media outlets covered the conference, according to its organizers, and Ria Novosti quoted Al Jazeera as saying, "This is perhaps the first large-scale conference on the Middle East that Russia has or
  tags: Russia, USSR, Israel, Saudi, Arabia, Oil, Bear
  
  

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