Posted on 08/15/2012 12:02:20 AM PDT by bruinbirdman
A self-appointed “emir” of Tatarstan claimed responsibility for the “operation” in which assassination attempts were made, unsuccessfully, on mufti Ildusa Fayzova, and successfully on his deputy mufti Waliullah Yakupova. The man, Rais Mingaleev, made the announcement in a video posted to the internet, in which he also pledged his allegiance to Doku Umarov, the rebel leader in the North Caucasus. Seven others have been arrested, reports FreePress, while two men are still wanted and dozens more are under suspicion, prompting protests in Kazan “against illegal mass arrests of Muslims.” Rais Suleimanov, head of the Volga Regional Center, noted that Migaleev’s declaration of war on the Tatars loyal to the traditional school of Islam marks a serious escalation of the Wahhabi threat in Tatarstan.
Russian officials staved off concerns by announcing that there is no plan to ban grain exports, despite a devastating drought. Projections for this year’s wheat harvest are a mere 40.5 million tons, even lower than the 2010 total when Russia sustained its worst drought in 50 years. That year, reports the International Business Times, exports were banned and bread prices quickly rose across the world, hitting politically unstable markets in North Africa and the Middle East the hardest. “We don’t need to take any measures now—I mean measures to intervene on the market and regulate export,” said Russia’s deputy prime minister. “There are no grounds to ban export.”
Moscow’s concerns over China’s growing presence in its Far East prompted the Defense Ministry to announce plans to send two nuclear submarines to join the Pacific Fleet. Days later, Prime Minister Medvedev commented that it was important for Russia “not to allow negative manifestations...including the formation of enclaves made up of foreign citizens.” Though the Kremlin is typically reticent on this topic, the prime minister added that “Not many people live there, unfortunately, and the task of protecting our Far Eastern territories from excessive expansion by bordering states remains in place.” Russia has already moved to counter China’s presence in the region by increasing military presence in the region, and through programs that moved 400 families from former Soviet republics to the area.
These droughts have hit at a time when world grain stocks are low.
We had best stop subsidizing corn for watermelon gas.
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