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Kisumu, Kenya: Mama Sarah Obama has announced the date of her daughter’s burial. Zeituni Onyango who died in the US will be laid to rest at Kisumu County’s Muslim Cemetery on April 24. The late Zeituni’s body will arrive early morning on Thursday at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, will be flown to Kisumu and then taken to the mosque for prayers.

While the White House has continually threatened further sanctions against Russia for non-de-escalation (even as it un-de-escalates itself), the specifics of the additional sanctions have been sparse. German CEO warnings over blowback from economic sanctions... the "nonsense" of replacing Russian gas with US gas... the Russian warnings of "interdependence" and "boomerangs"... all reduce the West's arsenal of financial sanctions. But, as The Times of London reports, perhaps the US has found a crucial pain point for Putin - a sanctions regime that would target Putin's personal wealth, which includes a reported $40 billion stashed in Swiss bank accounts. As The...

WASHINGTON – Political and military elites are seizing protected areas in one of Africa's last bastions for elephants, putting broad swaths of Zimbabwe at risk of becoming fronts for ivory poaching, according to a nonprofit research group's report that examines government collusion in wildlife trafficking.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk believes Russian President Vladimir Putin "has a dream to restore the Soviet Union" — and Putin realizing that dream would be disastrous for the rest of the world. "Every day, he goes further and further,” Yatsenyuk said in an interview that aired Sunday on NBC's “Meet the Press.” “And God knows where is the final destination.”

Taliban leader among 5 rebels killed in Ghazni mosque explosion A local Taliban commander was among five militants killed following an explosion inside a mosque in eastern Ghazni province of Afghanistan. Local government officials said the militants were killed while they were making an improvised explosive device (IED) to carry out a roadside bomb explosion. Deputy provincial governor Mohammad Ali Ahmadi said the incident took place on Saturday morning in western party of Ghazni city. Ahmadi further added that the Taliban commander was recognized as Mullah Sadiq who was killed along with four other militants following the explosion. The Taliban...

For the past fortnight, Denis Pushilin, the prime minister of the temporary government of the self-proclaimed People's Republic of Donetsk has presided, at least ostensibly, over a pro-Russian uprising that has seized town halls, police stations and other buildings in about ten towns across eastern Ukraine. Few people in Donetsk had heard of the diminutive, smartly dressed 32-year-old businessman until he emerged as a leader of the group that occupied the regional administration building here two weeks ago. Born and raised in Makeyevka, just outside Donetsk, he graduated from the local engineering college and came out of his national service...

-excerpt- ...non-U.S. citizens have registered 5,600 planes with the Federal Aviation Administration through trustees, concealing the owners' identities. -excerpt- Just five trustees accounted for 3,283 of the planes registered on behalf of non-U.S. citizens....

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Space station astronauts got a special Easter treat: a cargo ship full of supplies. The shipment arrived Sunday morning via a Dragon, versus a bunny. "Gentlemen, the Easter Dragon is knocking at the door," NASA's Mission Control said as the capsule was bolted into place. The SpaceX company's cargo ship, Dragon, spent two days chasing the International Space Station following its launch from Cape Canaveral. Astronauts used a robot arm to capture the capsule 260 miles above Egypt. More than 2 tons of food, spacewalking gear and experiments fill the Dragon, including mating fruit flies, a...

On April 27, 2014 in the Palace "Ukraine" in Kyiv is scheduled to conduct a large anti-people scam. The scripted scenario Medvedchuk, prepaid money for this scam in Kiev under the alleged good intentios of meeting of territorial communities with Sham “authorized” representatives of their areas. Three thousand people from different regions who brought protocols that supposedly prove they are authorized representatives of their territories. This event is open to the embassies of different countries including the U.S., the UN and the OSCE. Later announced the name of the event, as the Ukraine Constituent Assembly authorized representatives of local communities,...

Jews in Ukraine seeking escape to Israel over letter demanding they 'register' with pro-Russian forces that was branded fake by a rabbi Jews in eastern Ukraine are so concerned over their safety after last week's alleged anti-Semitic incidents that they are seeking advice on repatriation to Israel, it was claimed today. This follows fears over a leaflet distributed in the city of Donetsk which demanded that people over 16 of Jewish origin should register with the authorities, a sinister development that smacked of the Nazi-era. It has since been branded a fake by the pro-Russian separatists it claims to represent,...

The leader of the Crimean Tatar people Mustafa Cemil returned first time after the Russian occupation of the Crimea peninsula. On the way he was greeted by supporters. And over the building of Mejlis, Cemil long led, in honor of his return again raised the flag of Ukraine.

Head of Ukrainian Orthodox Church Kiev Patriarchate Filaret "We celebrate this year the Pascha of Christ in difficult conditions. It reminds some of Calvary. Because people suffer and in the Crimea, people suffer and in the eastern regions of Ukraine," said Filaret. According to the Patriarch, Ukraine sympathize with virtually the entire world. "Because we tolerate aggression on the part of the brotherly Russia. We are told that "we love you", and at the same time hate us and win," said the Patriarch. According to Filaret, Ukraine must recover. "After the resurrection of Golgotha was, is, will be, and...

As a member of the Majlis, head of BO "Fund" Crimea "Riza Ševkiev, hung the flag of Ukraine has become today the reason for the visit of the Crimean police: "police officers came to me of the Kiev district of Simferopol (Akmesdžita) and was told that it was a signal that the posted flag of Ukraine." I replied that I personally am a citizen of Ukraine, the building belongs to the public and is not a Government building, and it is not clear why they came to ask me about the flag." The police said the reason for the visit...

“We shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty!” proclaimed Lynch and Hawkin’s Commander-in-Chief just three months earlier. “They fought like tigers,” writes the CIA officer who helped train the Cubans who splashed ashore at the Bay of Pigs 53 years ago this week. “But their fight was doomed before the first man hit the beach.” That CIA man, Grayston Lynch, knew something about fighting – and about long odds. He carried scars from Omaha Beach, the Battle of the Bulge,...

In the circles of the FSB have thought about the deportation of the Crimean Tatars. On this, citing its own sources in the Russian special services, said a leader of the Crimean Tatar people Mustafa Public Jemilev studio. "As we were told supporters deportation, or create conditions that will lead to the fact that the Crimean Tatars from the Crimea go - most', - he said. Chauvinistic expression increased significantly and at the household level in the Crimea. 'For example, these so-called 'Kazak' pytayutsya ask: 'When will you go? After all, you will still be evicted. I would settle in...

U.S. car giant General Motors Corp (GM) (GM.N) plans to invest $12 billion in China from 2014 to 2017 and build more plants next year as it steps up its presence to compete with aggressive rivals in the world's largest auto market. GM plans to build five more plants in China next year, as part of its efforts to ramp up manufacturing capacity there by 65 percent by 2020, executives said on Sunday. The five plants will be in Wuhan, Chongqing, Jinqiao and Shenyang. Four of those will be vehicle assembly plants, while the fifth one will be an engine...

GOOGLE TRANSLATE: April 20 in the Donetsk region of Yenakiyeve building council unknown what happened to all separatists, who blocked the administrative building during the week. As the local edition of "30 days" in the morning on the city council again waving flags of Ukraine and the Donetsk region. During the occupation there were flags of the so-called Republic of Donetsk and Donetsk region . In the same building is unoccupied Executive Committee . Before entering the state institutions, journalists noticed the man who was talking on the phone and did not realize what had happened. "I called Sasha Greeks...

KAYE and Doug Baird, the parents of VC hero Cameron Baird, talk for the first time about their son, his extraordinary bravery under fire and how they would give his medals back if they could only see the broad crease of his smile again. IT was a Saturday night less than a year ago when Kaye Baird heard the doorbell ring. She hadn’t been expecting visitors, and husband Doug had already settled on the couch to watch the footy. She can’t recall exactly what she’d been doing - but what happened next is something they will both never forget. Three...

According to the information of the resistance, "controlled by extremists, the city Slavyansk finally plunged into chaos and anarchy." Extremists on the roadblocks being taken away from local personal vehicle "for the purposes of the Donetsk Republic', the people running out of cash, began armed criminal showdown." In addition to holding earlier seizures of buildings "green men" (Russian forces) were a group of armed men in uniform black uniform. At this time we do not have membership of these groups. But note that they are not coordinated by the city representatives of GRU HEADQUARTERS ARMED FORCES of the RUSSIAN FEDERATION....

Russia's foreign ministry has expressed outrage at a fatal shooting incident in eastern Ukraine which it blamed on Ukrainian nationalists. Russian state media reported that five people were killed in a gun attack on a checkpoint manned by pro-Russian activists near the town of Sloviansk. Ukrainian officials said one died in a clash between "two groups of citizens". The incident comes as pro-Russian groups continue to occupy government buildings defying a deal to leave. Etrogrul Apakan, who heads the special mission of the Organization for Cooperation and Security in Europe in Kiev, said his deputy would be in Donetsk to...

Five people have been killed in a gunfight in Slavyansk, a city in eastern Ukraine held by anti-government protesters. The fatalities include three protesters and two attackers, who are believed to be from the Right Sector paramilitary. Read RT's live updates on Ukrainian turmoil The deaths came after a night attack on a protester checkpoint on the outskirts of the city. Four cars drove by the checkpoint and opened fire at the local residents manning it, killing two people and seriously injuring several others. “They approached with their high beam headlamps on. Our man went to them and asked not...

Poland's Parliament has adopted Tuesday a declaration expressing support for the European integration of Ukraine and Ukrainians who have taken to the streets after the scrapping of an Association Agreement with the EU. In the resolution, the Sejm vows "full solidarity with the citizens of Ukraine, who with great determination show the world their desire to ensure their country's full membership in the EU." At the same time, Polish MPs have expressed "deep concern" about the exacebation of tension in Ukrainian political and social life. They called Ukrainian authorities to respect the principles of democracy, rule of law and the...

MiG-29SMT is a huge upgrade of the classic Cold War fighter—or second-hand junk in disguise Moscow has placed an order for new, highly upgraded MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters. But they actually might not be new at all. The planned acquisition of the twin-tail, twin-engine MiG-29SMTs is a window into bizarre and possibly suspect Kremlin practices that could boost Russian air power … or undermine it. Time was when foreigners referred to almost any Soviet- or Russian-built jet fighter as a “MiG.” While other design bureaus may have been making fighters for the Eastern bloc and its allies, the products of the...

"Officially, the People's Republic of China is an atheist country but that is changing fast as many of its 1.3 billion citizens seek meaning and spiritual comfort that neither communism nor capitalism seem to have supplied. "Christian congregations in particular have skyrocketed since churches began reopening when Chairman Mao's death in 1976 signalled the end of the Cultural Revolution. "Less than four decades later, some believe China is now poised to become not just the world's number one economy but also its most numerous Christian nation."

When Woodrow Wilson signed into law the Revenue Act of 1913, it probably sounded like a good idea. Most people would pay less in taxes and the prices of everyday goods would drop, he promised. And the rich would — finally! — start paying their fair share. In those days, tax collection was a highly diffuse business with various states and localities collecting taxes at various rates. The federal government mostly skidded by on exorbitant and uneven tariffs, and on booze and tobacco taxes. This was always tough and disorganized business for the federal government. Those hardships became especially acute...

Royal Dutch Shell’s new CEO Ben Van Beurden met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, signaling Ukraine tension has not affected investment in Russia, and that energy contracts won't be derailed by international politics. Chief executive Van Beurden met with the president at his residence outside of Moscow and reaffirmed the company’s commitment to develop Russia’s only liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant with Gazprom. "We also know that this is going to be a project that will need strong support to succeed. So one of my purposes of meeting with you, Mr. President, is to also secure support for...

US Communists Shill for Russia Over Ukraine Submitted by Trevor on April 18, 2014 – 3:08 am EST Brian Becker Two groups have been most actively supporting “there is no such thing as an ex-Chekist,” Vladimir Putin’s naked aggression in the Ukraine. They are Western communists, who hate the West and still see Russia as a force for socialism and anti-Americanism, and some naive Western “conservatives” like commentator Pat Buchanan and actor Steven Segal, who seem to believe that Comrade Putin is a closet Christian bent on defending Western values and saving Europe from the Islamic hordes. These naifs seem...

It's one of the most famous military mysteries of the past decade, Pat Tillman, the former ASU and Cardinals player turned Army Ranger killed in 2004 after he left the NFL to fight in Afghanistan. The Army said it was friendly fire, but never said whose shots killed Tillman. Three soldiers acknowledged firing at his position, but none have spoken publicly until now. Steven Elliott told ESPN's "Outside the Lines" that two convoys entered the mountains, but got separated. He said Tillman's group scaled a ridge line to help fellow rangers under attack, but a squad leader mistakenly thought an...

President Obama on Friday signed into law a bill authored by Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz that would bar an Iranian diplomat from entering the United States, but immediately issued a statement saying he won't enforce it. Obama decided to treat the law as mere advice. "Acts of espionage and terrorism against the United States and our allies are unquestionably problems of the utmost gravity, and I share the Congress's concern that individuals who have engaged in such activity may use the cover of diplomacy to gain access to our Nation," Obama said in his signing statement. "Nevertheless, as President...

Russia's parliament has agreed to write off about $10 billion of North Korea's Soviet-era debt, in a deal expected to facilitate the building of a gas pipeline to South Korea across the reclusive state. The State Duma lower house in Moscow on Friday ratified a 2012 agreement to excuse the bulk of North Korea's debt. It said the total debt stood at $10.96 billion as of September 17, 2012. The rest of the debt - $1.09 billion - would be redeemed during the next 20 years, to be paid in equal instalments every six months. The outstanding debt owed by...

Even as the crisis in Ukraine continues to defy easy resolution, President Obama and his national security team are looking beyond the immediate conflict to forge a new long-term approach to Russia that applies an updated version of the Cold War strategy of containment. Just as the United States resolved in the aftermath of World War II to counter the Soviet Union and its global ambitions, Mr. Obama is focused on isolating President Vladimir V. Putin’s Russia by cutting off its economic and political ties to the outside world, limiting its expansionist ambitions in its own neighborhood and effectively making...

The Wall Street Journal reported last night that House Speaker John Boehner told donors at a fundraiser last month in Las Vegas that he was “hellbent on getting this done this year,” in reference to an amnesty/immigration bill. His spokesman did not dispute the account. In related news, President Obama is meeting with the National Commander of the American Legion this morning. Ordinarily, that would mean little, but the meeting comes just days after the Legion came out against a plan to amnesty illegal aliens who join the military. The number of people who would benefit from such an amnesty...

Yatsenyuk Turchynov and issued a joint statement on how to reconcile the Ukraine. VIDEO Acting President of Ukraine, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Oleksandr Turchynov and Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyukvystupili a joint statement "Ukraine is approaching a big Christian holiday - Easter, which carries the hope for rebirth and renewal peaceful life. In the days of the great reconciliation and forgiveness, we call on all citizens to lend a hand to each other, to abandon the radical actions and hate speech back together to work together for the protection and development, and creative construction of the cathedral, the...

When Russia invaded Crimea and massed 40,000 or more troops in the east, Ukraine turned to an old friend, the United States, and asked for light arms, antitank weapons, intelligence help and nonlethal aid. The Obama administration agreed to deliver 300,000 meals-ready-to-eat. As this newspaper reported Friday, military transport planes were deemed too provocative for Russia, so the food was shipped by commercial trucks. The administration refused Kiev's requests for intelligence-sharing and other supplies, lethal or not. Boris Tarasiuk, Ukraine's former foreign minister, barely disguises his anger. He says: "We've not seen the same reaction from the U.S." as during...

Political cartoonist A.F. Branco has perfectly captured Harry Reid’s sad views on what really constitutes a terrorist.As an American who believes vehemently in our Constitution, free speech and free political discourse I find Reid’s comments both ridiculous and hurtful.Do you think its a coincidence that Reid wants to sell Cliven Bundy’s land to the Chinese and is simultaneously labeling those whom have come to the rancher’s defense “terrorists�?

Marine Le Pen, leader of France's far-right National Front, blamed the European Union for declaring a new Cold War on Russia that would hurt all concerned, Russian media reported on Saturday as she paid an official visit to Moscow. Europe-Russia relations are at their lowest ebb in decades after President Vladimir Putin's annexation of Crimea prompted the EU to impose sanctions on dozens of prominent Russian officials and lawmakers. However Le Pen, along with other Eurosceptic leaders of the far left and nationalist right, believe the original fault lies with Brussels for offering closer ties with Ukraine, a move Russia...

GARCIA MARQUEZ, SNEAK AND AN ACCOMPLICE TO THE CRIMES OF FIDEL CASTRO By Armando Valladares April 18, Nuevo Accion http://www.nuevoaccion.com/ (Translation from Spanish) All dictators and murderers have had staunch defenders; Stalin, Hitler and Fidel Castro. Perhaps the most heinous in that fauna supporting dictatorships, are writers, poets, and artists. I've been saying for decades that an honest intellectual has a commitment to society: telling the truth, fight for respect, for human dignity, and not to use the privilege to reach millions of people, to lie, and to skip over the historical reality. This is one of the biggest crimes...

A User’s Guide to Russian Propaganda Submitted by Terresa Monroe-Hamilton on April 19, 2014 – 3:07 pm ESTNo Comment By: Brent P. Western press and media are having trouble distinguishing facts from Russian propaganda. This is understandable – the Russian propaganda machine is a mature and venerable institution that engages in an art that, for better or for worse, the West simply does not practice as often nor as effectively. The intent of this guide is to help those less accustomed to the ways of the Russian government to discern between reporting and propaganda. There are a few simple tell-tale...

Dressed in the camouflage uniform of an Army colonel, the firebrand leader of Russia's nationalist Liberal Democratic Party on Tuesday accused the United States of stirring up belligerent sentiments in Kiev. The protest movement on Kiev's Independence Square "was set up by the United States … so that Europe would smell the gunpowder," party leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky told the lower house of parliament, state news wire RIA Novosti reported. Zhirinovsky added that as soon as people started dying in central Kiev, the U.S. and the European Union began conducting closed-door meetings about how to divvy up Europe, the report said. He made the comments during a discussion of Ukraine's military preparations to quell pro-Russia riots in that country's east. He said the interim government in Kiev...

On the eve of a mission to Ukraine, Rep. Ed Royce said Wednesday that the U.S. has underestimated Russian President Vladimir Putin, warning that the leader “is stepping up his efforts to destabilize and possibly annex the eastern part of Ukraine.” Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, defended Ukraine’s show of force this week in response to takeovers of government buildings by people they believe are Russian agents. He called the action a signal to Putin that the young government was not going to allow his “machinations to lead to splitting the country between eastern and western Ukraine.”...

Poland will breathe a little easier because at the very least, American troops in Poland will be an effective trip wire and hedge against Russia making a move to reclaim the former Warsaw Pact country. Washington Post: Poland and the United States will announce next week the deployment of U.S. ground forces to Poland as part of an expansion of NATO presence in Central and Eastern Europe in response to events in Ukraine. That was the word from Poland’s defense minister, Tomasz Siemoniak, who visited The Post Friday after meeting with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel at the Pentagon on Thursday....

Gov. Mike Pence (R., Ind.) on Wednesday declared the “reset” of U.S.-Russian relations a failure and called for the construction of a European missile defense shield to deter Russian aggression. “With Russian aggression on the rise again, it is clear that our policy of conciliatory diplomacy has failed, Pence said at a Friends of Indiana reception in Berlin, Germany. “While new sanctions are of some value, in the interest of our alliance, I believe the United States and the EU must respond with deeds more than words to strengthen our economic and strategic defenses,” Pence added. Pence then called for the deployment...

Japan began its first military expansion at the western end of its island chain in more than 40 years on Saturday, breaking ground on a radar station on a tropical island off Taiwan. The move risks angering China, locked in a dispute with Japan over nearby islands which they both claim. Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera, who attended a ceremony on Yonaguni island to mark the start of construction, suggested the military presence could be enlarged to other islands in the seas southwest of Japan's main islands. "This is the first deployment since the U.S. returned Okinawa (1972) and calls...

The Talented Mr. Putin. We've picked a sort of a bad time to have a "community organizer(TM)" in the white house...

It also follows a reorganization of Western-backed fighters aimed at creating a more effective military force and increasing protection for Christian and other religious minorities—something of particular importance to Washington. This shift is seen as a test of whether the U.S. can find a trustworthy rebel partner able to keep sophisticated weapons out of the hands of extremists, Saudi and Syrian opposition figures said. The U.S. has long feared that if it does supply advanced arms, the weapons will wind up with radical groups—some tied to al Qaeda—which have set up bases in opposition-held territory.

Traffic moves through downtown Lagos, Nigeria. The United Nations Population Division, which tracks demographic data from around the world, has dramatically revised its projections for what will happen in the next 90 years. The new statistics, based on in-depth survey data from sub-Saharan Africa, tell the story of a world poised to change drastically over the next several decades. Most rich countries will shrink and age (with a couple of important exceptions), poorer countries will expand rapidly and, maybe most significant of all, Africa will see a population explosion nearly unprecedented in human history. If these numbers turn out to...

That Mr Putin has difficulties with the truth is already apparent from the transparent lies he told us during the Crimean crisis. Who can forget that stage-managed press conference with a group of carefully-vetted Russian journalists back in March at which Mr Putin said in all seriousness that there were no Russian troops active in Crimea, when the province was in fact already overrun with Spetsnaz Russian forces orchestrating Moscow's annexation of the territory? Now the Russian president is at it again, this time trying to persuade a sceptical President Obama that there are no Russian soldiers or spiesinvolved in stirring up...

Gov. Rick Scott was just about to kick into gear his Hispanic outreach campaign when two top Republicans in the Florida Senate complicated the effort by unexpectedly blocking a priority bill that would give in-state tuition rates to some undocumented immigrants. The abrupt procedural move by Senate President Don Gaetz and Senate budget chairman Joe Negron on Thursday caught Scott unaware along with fellow House Republicans and the party’s most respected former governor, Gov. Jeb Bush, who had privately asked some senators to hear the measure. In a rare joint public statement, Bush, Scott and another former Republican governor, Bob...

Thursday's session in federal parliament was suspended for a while after the independent MP Laurent Louis (photo) had called Premier Elio Di Rupo a paedophile. Several MPs left the hemisphere as a protest. The incident happened around 3pm. Laurent Louis, a French speaker, had climbed the platform to criticise the cost of President Obama's visit to Belgium. "It cost millions, cash that could have been used to fill millions of fridges", he argued. "We bring life in our capital to a halt, without showing respect to the citizens." As Louis kept going, Di Rupo (Francophone socialist) promised to release more...

Probably the most emotive issue to come before the electorate in a vote on May 18 is an initiative to ban convicted paedophiles from working with children for life, the culmination of a ten year campaign sparked by a controversy in the town of Biel. The initiative has mainly been backed by the rightwing Swiss People’s Party and the centrist Christian Democrats. ... The initiative, brought by the Marche Blanche (White March) group of concerned parents, would amend the Swiss constitution to ensure that “persons who are convicted because they have affected the sexual integrity of a child or a...