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The head of the Russian space agency has just threatened the US and NASA with some serious repercussions if the Biden Administration follows through with sanctions that would impact the cooperation between the two countries in space. Should the US cut off Russia’s access to certain space technologies needed to keep the International Space Station operational, then the end result might involve the Russians allowing the International Space Station to simply tumble out of orbit and come rocketing back toward Earth. Russia is a key player in the 15-nation partnership that has kept the ISS orbiting Earth for 23 years,...

"“Putin’s Asymmetrical Assault on Democracy in Russia and Europe: Implications for U.S. National Security,” finds that President Trump’s refusal to publicly acknowledge the threat posed by the Russian government has hampered efforts to mobilize our government, strengthen our institutions, and work with our European allies to counter Putin’s interference in democracies abroad. Never before in American history has so clear a threat to national security been so clearly ignored by a U.S. president, and without a strong U.S. response, institutions and elections here and throughout Europe will remain vulnerable to the Kremlin’s aggressive and sophisticated malign influence operations."

Sweden is preparing to issue a public information manual on what to do in the event of war, as debate in the country grows over how to deal with the threat from Russia. The brochure, due to be sent to 4.7m households, will inform the public how they can take part in “total defence” during a war and secure water, food and heating. The booklet with the working title If Crisis or War Comes will also give guidance on dealing with threats from cyber attacks, terrorism and climate change, the FT reported. Russia’s annexation of Crimea and military support for...

 Last week Norway agreed to allow 330 US Marines to be based at Værnes Russia is furious and Frants Klintsevich said Norway was now fair game Klintsevich's views are thought to be in line with those of President Putin's Norway has been warned by a senior Russian politician that it could now be a nuclear target after it allowed for the deployment of 330 US Marines.  Frants Klintsevich, a deputy chairman of Russia's defence and security committee, said the deployment of US Marines at Værnes was part of a US build-up and made Norway fair game in the event of a nuclear confrontation.Mr Klintsevich...

The presence of Russian submarines and spy ships near undersea cables carrying most global Internet communications has U.S. officials concerned that Russia could be planning to sever the lines in periods of conflict, the New York Times reported on Sunday. The Times said there was no evidence of cable cutting but that the concerns reflected increased wariness among U.S. and allied officials over growing Russian military activity around the world. The newspaper quoted naval commanders and intelligence officials as saying they were monitoring significantly greater Russian activity along the cables' known routes from the North Sea to Northeast Asia and...

Police Get Orders to Crush Crisis Unrest 10 November 2008 ST. PETERSBURG — President Dmitry Medvedev ordered police on Friday to stamp out any social unrest or crime arising from the global financial crisis. "We have a stable state … We do not need a return to the 1990s when everything was boiling and seething," Medvedev told a meeting of senior officials. "The law enforcement agencies should keep track of what is happening," he said. "And if someone tries to exploit the consequences of the financial crisis … they should intervene, bring criminal charges. Otherwise, there won't be order." The...

David Cameron: Army must halt Russia threatWestern forces, which could include British troops, must be sent into the Balkans to prevent Russia sparking a new European war, according to David Cameron. Speaking in Washington, the Conservative leader will issue a stark warning that Russia's increasingly assertive foreign policy is jeopardising Britain's national security. Mr Cameron fears a diplomatic and military crisis could arise over Kosovo, the province of Serbia which has effectively been a United Nations protectorate since Nato invaded to stop ethnic cleansing by Serb forces in 1999. The ethnic Albanian government of Kosovo is threatening to declare independence...

the People’s Republic of China won’t help the U.S. rein in the rogue regime of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il -- which this week conducted a failed test of a missile designed to reach American cities -- then the U.S. should stop helping China with its own economic and technological development. China must support the U.S. position on North Korea in the U.N. Security Council or pay a price for not doing so. In response to North Korea’s missile tests, Japan has sponsored a resolution in the Security Council that would bar nations from giving North Korea money, material...

Some see it as a NATO counterweight. Others call it a Club for Dictators or at least neardictators. Some consider it an antiAmerican stalking horse for Chinese and or Russian hegemony, with the potential to become "OPEC with nukes." Whatever: The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) a so-called "anti-terrorism, anti-separatism, anti-extremism" grouping, including China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, which holds its fifth annual meeting this week - definitely reeks of trouble for Uncle Sam. Start with this: The "anti-terrorism" SCO has given observer status to Iran, the world's top state sponsor of terrorism including an annual convention of just...

A bear clad in the Russian tricolor dances with a panda wearing the Chinese red and yellow stars on banners around Beijing. "Together Toward Common Prosperity" reads the slogan on ads for a coming Russian cultural year. Russian President Vladimir Putin will seek to tighten his country's dance with its former Cold War adversary when he arrives in China's capital Tuesday for a two-day state visit. With China's wealth and might burgeoning, Putin's meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao _ their fifth in under a year _ is expected to be a tightly choreographed spectacle of symbolism and overtures to...

CARACAS, Venezuela - U.S. missionaries accused by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez of espionage have been forced from their remote outposts among jungle tribes by a government order, the final pair leaving Thursday after years of evangelical work. The New Tribes Mission flew those two out of the rain forest to regroup with other missionaries in the eastern city of Puerto Ordaz. There they will decide what to do next: leave the country or continue with a legal battle seeking to overturn the government's order to expel them from indigenous areas by Sunday. Most of the group's missionaries are Americans. Since...

Welcome bear hug By Arnon Regular Russian President Vladimir Putin's announcement that he would be willing to meet with Hamas leaders did not come as a complete surprise to Hamas, which is currently on a drive to obtain international legitimacy for its future government. Within 24 hours after Hamas won the Palestinian elections, its leaders had identified the Russian-Chinese axis, as well as a few European countries, as the place to concentrate its efforts to soften the stringent conditions for acceptance by the international community that are currently being set by the United States, Israel, Egypt and Jordan. Nevertheless, even...

Venezuela has become an important customer of Russian weapons, a senior government official said when announcing a record sale of armament in 2005, AP reported. Mikhail Dmitriyev, the head of the Federal Service for Military and Technical Cooperation, advised that Russia could sell MiG strike aircraft to Venezuela. Queried about Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez' remarks on the possibility of buying MiG's, Dmitriyev answered that no concrete deal has been made. However, "if Venezuela desires to procure MiG's, we are ready to cooperate," he noted. According to the official, Russia is also determined to open a maintenance site for any weapons...

MOSCOW, Feb. 6 (Xinhuanet) -- Russia said in a statement on Monday that it firmly opposes "Taiwan independence" in any form and adheres to the one-China policy. "Lately, Taiwanese authorities have made several statements that became a matter of serious concern to Russia. In particular, we were bewildered by the ideas put forth by Chen Shui-bian on January 29, which run counter to his earlier promises and commitments," Itar-Tass reported, citing a statement issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry. "His (Chen Shui-bian's) intention to liquidate the National Reunification Council and give up the program of national reunification indicates that the...

enezuelan President Hugo Chavez has told a huge rally of supporters that he wants to buy more weapons to defend his country from invasion. Speaking in the capital Caracas, Mr Chavez said 100,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles already on order from Russia were not enough. Venezuela needed a million well-armed men and women, he said. Mr Chavez also likened US President George W Bush to the German Nazi leader, Adolf Hitler. Diplomatic relations between Venezuela and the US have been strained, but they worsened earlier this week when both countries expelled one another's diplomats after Caracas accused the US embassy of...

RUSSIA and China have bowed to pressure from the US and Europe to send Iran to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions over its nuclear program. After months of resistance, the Russian and Chinese foreign ministers abandoned their softly-softly approach towards Tehran's nuclear ambitions at a late-night private dinner in London at the home of British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. They signed a joint statement yesterday asking the International Atomic Energy Agency to formally refer all issues related to Iran's nuclear capacity and compliance to the Security Council, where sanctions and other penalties could be imposed. Bush administration officials...

Putin Touts Russia's Missile CapabilitiesPutin Boasts That Russia's Missiles Can Penetrate Any Missile Defense System, News Agencies Report By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press Writer The Associated Press MOSCOW Jan 31, 2006 — President Vladimir Putin boasted Tuesday that Russia has missiles capable of penetrating any missile defense system, Russian news reports said. "Russia … has tested missile systems that no one in the world has," the ITAR-Tass, Interfax and RIA Novosti news agencies quoted him as saying at a news conference. "These missile systems don't represent a response to a missile defense system, but they are immune to that. They...

Here's a sad but safe new year's prediction: U.S. relations with Latin America, which plunged to their lowest point in decades in 2005, will get still worse in 2006. The year ended with a string of reverses. In a regional summit in Mar del Plata, Argentina, in November, President Bush was jeered by demonstrators and taunted by Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, who aspires to make Latin America anti-American and anti-democratic. Then came the Chavez-backed victory in Bolivia of Evo Morales, a former llama herder and coca farmer who describes himself as Washington's "nightmare." Morales's victory sets the stage for a year...

In a letter to then Russian Premier Nikita Khrushchev regarding his role in the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro reflected upon the possible use of nuclear weapons during the U.S.-Soviet confrontation, “It was my opinion that, in case of an American invasion [Cuba], a massive and total nuclear strike would have to be launched.” Given Castro’s affection for nuclear weapons, it should come as no surprise to observers that the aging terrorist has befriended Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Just last week, Ahmadinejad, a recognized anti-Semite and human rights violator, threatened unspecified retaliation against the West unless it...

Today, in Severodvinsk there will be a ceremony of delivery to China’s Naval Forces a submarine of project 636. Before the end of this year, China will receive another submarine and destroyer of project 956EM. The naval contracts for China amounted to almost half of Russian arms export this year. Russian state mediator Rosoboronexport signed with the Chinese Defense Ministry the $2 billion contract for eight submarines of project 636 armed with missile complex Club-S on May 3, 2002. The contracts for building five subs were given to “Admiralty Shipyards,” to Sevmashpredpriyatie (two), and to Krasnoye Sormovo (one). The main...