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ISIL claims responsibility for Russian church shooting in which five women were killed

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isil russian church

ISIL has claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on an Orthodox church congregation in the North Caucasus region of Dagestan that left five women dead.

An unidentified gunman fired at worshippers leaving the church in the town of Kizlyar in the mainly Muslim region, th National reports, citing local press.

The regional internal affairs ministry said in a statement that the assailant used a hunting rifle, and that four women were killed on the spot, while the attacker was “eliminated”.

A fifth woman died of her injuries in hospital, health ministry spokeswoman Zalina Mourtazalieva told TASS news agency.

Two Russian police officers were injured in the attack.

According to a local official, the assailant was a local man in his early twenties, the Interfax news agency reported.

The Russian RBK daily quoted an Orthodox priest saying the attacker had fired on churchgoers following an afternoon service on Sunday.

“We had finished the mass and were beginning to leave the church. A bearded man ran towards the church shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ [God is greatest] and killed four people,” Father Pavel told RBK.

“He was carrying a rifle and a knife,” he said.

Turkish-Russian missile deal puts NATO on edge

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Turkish-Russian missile

Turkish-Russian missile

Ankara has inked a defense deal with Moscow that could further derail ties with its NATO allies. How will they react? And could the deal still be reversed? Teri Schultz reports from Brussels.

As relations continue to fray over the clashes between Turkey and American-backed Kurdish forces in the northwestern Syrian region of Afrin, Ankara’s ties with Moscow are strengthening, exacerbating the tension with Washington.

Despite months of warnings from NATO allies both publicly and privately, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has finalized his decision to upgrade his country’s air defense with a$2.5 billion (€2.03 billion)-investment in a Russian surface-to-air missile system, the S-400 “Triumf.”

It’s not clear whether the Turkey-Russian sale is past the point of no return. Even NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg wouldn’t hazard a guess ahead of this week’s defense ministers’ meeting. He said Turkey needs to clarify the status of the contract.

Stoltenberg said that Ankara is also discussing missile-defense cooperation with the Franco-Italian EUROSAM consortium that came in second to Russia’s bid. The US defense giant Raytheon also vied for the contract.

NATO diplomats speaking off the record due to the sensitivity of the subject said they believe the decision can still be reversed. There’s a precedent for that: In 2013 Turkey announced it would choose China’s Precision Machinery to supply its its first long-range air and anti-missile program. NATO allies protested vociferously and Ankara scrapped the program.

‘Not a bluff’

But no one should expect the same outcome this time, warned Tulin Daloglu, publisher and chief editor of the online Turkish current affairs magazine Halimiz.com. “Turkey’s purchase of Russian S-400s is not a bluff,” she told DW. “It is a shout out to Washington that it is crossing a red line” with its longstanding support to Kurdish groups that Ankara views as terrorist organizations, such as the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia.

Officials speaking critically of the Turkish move are always careful to add that military purchases are any government’s unilateral decision. Nonetheless, the displeasure is evident. “The principal of sovereignty obviously exists in acquisition of defense equipment,” General Petr Pavel, chairman of NATO’s Military Committee, said last fall, “but the same way that nations are sovereign in making their decision, they are also sovereign in facing the consequences of that decision.” NATO officials were quick to explain Pavel wasn’t threatening retaliation, but rather underlining that the Russian “Triumf” would be forced to stand alone in Turkey, as it could never be integrated into NATO’s system.

Russian system best plugs ‘vulnerability’

“The objective here is not to push the envelope or to create problems for NATO itself — Turkey has other objectives,” explained Sinan Ulgen, chairman of the Istanbul-based think tank, the Center for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies and a visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe. “The purchase of the S-400 came from a perceived vulnerability in Turkey’s air defenses, which is real, and the Russian offer was the best one on the table in terms of its delivery and ability to address that gap. But of course this is creating problems.”

Ulgen’s Carnegie colleague Marc Pierini described to DW more specifically what some of those problems will be on on the practical side. He pointed out the Turkish Air Force will not know how to operate the S-400s, so they will need Russian “instructors”, who Pierini envisions “camping out in Turkish Air Force headquarters,” where of course there is plenty of NATO-related information.

That’s not all. “In any missile interceptor you have something equivalent to the identification ‘friend or foe,'” Pierini explained, “so you have to connect your airplanes to these systems so that they’re not going to be shot down. So what do you do? Give access to the F-16 and F-35 operators in the Turkish Air Force to the Russians’ software in these missiles? And vice versa, do you give Russian instructors access to software in the Turkish Air Force airplanes?”

Azerbaijan gets new supply of military equipment from Russia

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Azerbaijan has received a large batch of new military equipment and ammunition from Russia, Xinhua News Agency reports, citing the country’s Defense Ministry.

Russia has organized the delivery of modern military equipment in accordance with the intergovernmental deal between the two countries, the Ministry said.

The ammunition and other military equipment have been delivered to the port in Baku and will soon be transferred to the military units stationed on the front-line zone, read the official statement.

The Russia-made military equipment is said to have excellent fire capabilities and high terrain crossing ability in mountainous conditions.

RT Naked Russian girl braves sub-zero temperatures in Siberia to protect fir trees (VIDEO)

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© Лиана Клевцова / VK.com

A student from the Russian city of Irkutsk has offered an alternative and novel way to celebrate winter holidays, protesting against felling by adorning a tree in the forest… With her naked self.

“It’s not necessary to fell trees to get into festive mood,” 21-year-old Liana Klevtsova wrote on her page in social network, Vkontakte. Much better to decorate a tree in its natural environment, she added. To prove her point, the girl – also au naturel – took to a snow covered Siberian forest and posed next to a fir tree, all shining bright.

Enough “lungs of the planet” are being lost in forest fires during warmer months, she said, calling on all not to add to the losses in the winter period. There are many fake trees to choose from on the market, she went on, saying that those craving natural beauty should follow her suit (or rather the lack of one).

The protest has divided online community, with some applauding the girl and others accusing her of “self promotion.” Klevtsova has previously revealed her body in various demonstrations, having protested both against high gasoline prices and low bus fares, according to the KP daily.

Source: https://www.rt.com/news/414487-naked-girl-christmas-tree/

UN envoy Nikki Haley gets prank called by Russian comedians

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It comes as no surprise that Russian comedians targeted Nikki Haley for quite an elaborate prank.The UN Ambassador to the United States has been in the news recently after gave a scathing speech in response to the United Nations vote earlier this week against President Donald Trump’s decision to consider Jerusalem as the new capital of Israel, Al Arabiya reports.

Hours after the UN’s decision was announced, Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexei Stolyarov gave Haley a call in which they made her believe that she was speaking to Mateusz Morawiecki, the Polish prime minister.

As one of the 35 countries abstaining from the anti-American vote, Haley highly praised this decision from Poland and begun the call by showing her gratitude: “Let me start with very much thanking you for the support we received on the vote today.”

Although Poland didn’t vote on America’s side and merely abstained, Haley thought this was memorable, adding: “We will never forget it.”

The pranksters continued the conversation and directed Haley’s attention to the topic of a “tense situation” on the island of Binomo in the South China Sea. “Do you know Binomo? They have declared independence. We suppose Russians had its intervention.”

This was met by Haley agreeing, “Yes, of course they did. We’ve been watching that very closely. I think we will continue to watch as we deal with the issues about the South China Sea.”

However, Binomo does not exist.

As the conversation progressed, Haley expressed her thoughts on Russia, stating that the country was “trying to be relevant in every region and they are trying to have some sort of say in every region.”

She continued: “They do try to cause some disruption, but we manage them and we continue to remind them what their place is.”

Once exposed, Haley’s comments cost her on a global scale, attracting attention from the Russian foreign ministry, Maria Zakarova, who responded “Nikki, do you really want Russia to remember all of its ‘places’ in the world?” on Facebook.

Interestingly, Haley’s mishap has yet to be covered by American media, who often praise Haley’s neo-conservatism to the point that she is now seen as a likely presidential contender.

Russian astronaut uploads impressive snap of Lake Sevan from space

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Russian astronaut, hero of Russian Sergey Ryazansky published on his Facebook page a photo of Lake Sevan taken from the International Space Station.

“Lake Sevan is the largest body of water in Armenia and the Caucasus region, and one of the largest freshwater high-altitude lakes in Eurasia. The #lake is situated in Gegharkunik Province, at an altitude of 1,900 m above sea level,” Ryazansky wrote on his Facebook page above his image.

A few weeks ago, Ryazansky published shots of Armenian capital Yerevan taken from space.  “Yerevan does not look like other capitals – people here are not in a hurry, the city is moving at its measured pace. And the Cascade, one of the symbols of Yerevan, is well-known far beyond its borders,” wrote the astronaut in his post.

 

Armenia government approves Russian defense-loan agreement

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YEREVAN. – At Thursday’s Cabinet meeting, the government of Armenia approved the agreement on a $100mn defense loan from Russia, and forwarded it to the parliament for ratification.

Under this document, Russia will provide a 20-year state export loan to Armenia, in order to fund the supply of Russian-made military products to the country.

The Armenian government’s respective rationalization states that this new agreement is in line with Armenia’s strategic interests, and it will serve the objective of enhancing the country’s security.

In June 2015, Armenia signed a $200mn loan agreement with Russia, so as to purchase Russian-made weapons.

Source: News.am

Russian Su-24 warplane crashes at air base in Syria, crew dies: agencies

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A Russian Su-24 frontline bomber rolled off the runway on takeoff from Russia’s Hmeymim air base in Syria on Tuesday, Russian news agencies cited Russia’s defense ministry as saying, adding that the warplane’s crew died in the accident.

The crew, bound for a combat mission, failed to eject themselves from the aircraft. Warplanes of this type carry a crew of two pilots, Reuters reports.

According to reports from the scene, a technical fault was believed to be behind the accident, the defense ministry was cited as saying.

 

Source Panorama.am

Yerevan Approves First Deal With Russian-Armenian Investors

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YEREVAN (RFE/RL)—An investment fund set up recently by wealthy Russian entrepreneurs of Armenian descent plans to build a major hydroelectric plant in Armenia in what will be the first business project financed by it, it was announced on Thursday.

The Armenian government gave the green light to the project, saying that it will boost the country’s energy security. The decision took the form of formal approval of a framework agreement with the fund called the Investors Club of Armenia (ICA).

“This is the first major project of the Investors Club of Armenia which has been discussed in detail ever since the creation of the fund,” Energy Minister Ashot Manukyan said at a weekly cabinet meeting.

The fund was officially presented in March at a ceremony in Yerevan attended by Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan. The latter has close rapports with its key founders, notably the Armenian-born billionaire Samvel Karapetian (no relation).

Minister for Economic Development Suren Karayan said in April that the fund’s investments in the Armenian economy should total around $300 million this year. One of Karayan’s deputies told reporters last month that the first ICA-funded projects relating to renewable energy will be launched this fall.

The new hydroelectric plant is due to be built on the Debed river flowing through Armenia’s northern Lori province. It will be located near Shnogh, a village 20 kilometers south of the country’s border with Georgia.

Manukyan told fellow cabinet members that the “modern and sophisticated” facility will absorb at least $150 million in investments and have a capacity of 76 megawatts. Power generated by it will account for 5 percent of Armenian electricity production, the energy minister said.

The ICA says on its website that the Shnogh plant’s construction will take three years. The framework agreement with the Russian-Armenian investors commits the government to guaranteeing that Armenia’s national electric utility will buy 500 million kilowatt/hours of electricity annually form the future plant.

Incidentally, the utility belongs to Samvel Karapetian’s Tashir Group. The Russian-Armenian tycoon also owns Armenia’s largest thermal power plant and shopping malls in Yerevan. The “Forbes” magazine estimates his personal fortune at $3.5billion, suggesting that he is the richest ethnic Armenian in the world.

The ICA website also reveals that the fund would like to at least partly finance the planned construction of a 100-megawatt hydroelectric plant on the Arax river marking Armenia’s border with Iran. The Armenian and Iranian governments have long been trying to implement the project.

Manukian on Thursday stressed hydropower’s importance for Armenia’s energy security. He said the Shnogh plant and smaller hydroelectric facilities currently under construction will raise renewable energy’s share in Armenian electricity output to around 50 percent.

Hydroelectric plants produced nearly one-third of Armenia’s electricity last year. The proportion stood at only 20 percent a decade ago. It has risen rapidly thanks to more than 150 small and privately owned hydroelectric plants built along fast-flowing mountainous rivers.

Hydropower is much cheaper than electricity supplied by thermal-power plants mainly using Russian natural gas.

Indonesia to barter palm oil, coffee for Russian fighter jets

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coffee for JetSoutheast Asia’s largest economy sees US and European sanctions on Russia as an opportunity to boost trade. The value and timeframe of the barter, swapping palm oil and coffee for warplanes, remains unknown.

Indonesia said it would trade palm oil, coffee and other commodities for Russian fighter jets.

The barter deal to exchange 11 Russian-made Sukhoi Su-35 jets for key commodities was signed on August 4 in Moscow between Russia’s Rostec and PT Perusahaan Perdagangan Indonesia, both state-owned companies.

“The idea was proposed last year and some people suggested Indonesia should trade the jets with our main commodities,” Indonesia’s trade ministry spokesman Marolop Nainggolan told news agency AFP.

The European Union and United States have slapped sanctions on Russia for alleged meddling in the US presidential election and its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea.

Indonesian Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita said the sanctions were an opportunity for Indonesia to revive trade with Russia which has fallen since 2012.

Lukita said the barter agreement could open up further bilateral trade deals extending to energy and aviation.

Indonesia already operates 16 Sukhoi jets. The southeast Asian nation made its first purchase in 2003 while it was subject to a US embargo on arms sales due to the military’s human rights abuses.

Details of the barter came as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was to was due to arrive in Indonesia for two-day visit later Tuesday.

ap/se (AP, AFP)