Because out's shallow and superficial garbage that really isn't telling me anything.
"Heavy shelling shakes Ukraine’s main city in east" Associated Press November 10, 2014
DONETSK, Ukraine — The heaviest shelling in recent weeks shook the main city in Ukraine’s rebel-held east on Sunday, heightening worry about the renewal of full-scale conflict despite a cease-fire signed two months ago between Ukraine and Russia-backed separatists.
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Some of the heaviest fighting focuses on Donetsk’s airport.
On Saturday, scores of military vehicles were moving near Donetsk and farther to the east. Many of the unmarked vehicles were towing artillery. Ukrainian officials say rebel forces have received new weaponry and manpower from Russia. Moscow denies such claims.
Ukraine said Friday its troops killed as many as 200 insurgents in a battle for Donetsk Airport, prompting Russia to send new tanks and military vehicles across the border into rebel areas.
At least 4,035 people have been killed and 9,336 wounded in eastern Ukraine in the fighting, according to the United Nations.
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"Rebel-backed elections held in two areas of eastern Ukraine" by Andrew E. Kramer | New York Times November 03, 2014
DONETSK, Ukraine — Ukraine’s powerlessness to stop the rebel election illustrated the central government’s loss of control over the eastern regions, and Russia’s strengthening influence. Russia has said it will recognize the results, but turnout appeared to be brisk.
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Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov of Russia said Moscow intended to recognize the results of the voting in Donetsk and Luhansk. “We hope that it will be a free declaration of will and that nobody will try to ruin it from the outside,” Lavrov told the Russian newspaper Izvestia.
Ukrainian security officials have long maintained that rebels are being supplied by Russia.
On Sunday, the officials said they have noted an intensive transfer of weapons and troops from Russia, the AP reported. Russia has previously denied such claims.
Western governments, including Germany and France, have called on Russia to refrain from recognizing the rebel votes. Secretary of State John Kerry called the elections a “clear violation” of the Minsk agreement.
In an effort to draw voters to an election lacking suspense, as the rebel leaders seem sure to win, polling stations opened Sunday in Donetsk schools with gigantic piles of heads of cabbage, potatoes, carrots, beets, and onions in the yards outside; at one site, the vegetables were sold for 1 hryvnia, or about 8 cents, for a 10-pound bag, far below market price.
We just went through one.
At other sites, organizers gave the vegetables away. Several polling stations offered live entertainment, ranging from a three-member Slavic folk band to a man playing an accordion.
The prime ministers of Donetsk and Luhansk — Alexander Zakharchenko, a former electrician, and Igor Plotnitsky, a former consumer protection agency employee — were far ahead in rebel-backed polls.
In a practice common in authoritarian post-Soviet countries, one candidate in Donetsk, Yuri V. Sivokonenko, endorsed his opponent, Zakharchenko, in the race.
Happens here, too, usually after primaries.
“We don’t have any differences, none at all,” Sivokonenko, the head of a police union and a candidate for head of state, said in an interview. “I didn’t ask people to vote for me because I don’t have any differences in principle with Zakharchenko. It is healthy competition.”
Rather than proffer a choice to the people, he added, the purpose of the election was to boost the legitimacy of the separatists state.
That's why they schedule ours.
“By the end of the day, the Donetsk People’s Republic will have a new status,” he said. “The election confirms our status as a state.”
Several voters said the election would compel Kiev to negotiate with separatists and end the war.
“Now we will have a leader who can cooperate with other leaders,” said Tatyana Buncherenko, 41, a railroad employee, while standing in line for the discounted vegetables. “I will vote for Zakharchenko.”
Buncherenko alerted two friends by cellphone about the food that was being given away, and said she thought they would in turn call acquaintances with the news, boosting turnout as the day went on.
“A chain reaction is taking place,” she said.
Speaking of chain reactions:
"The crash in the California desert almost certainly dashed Branson's goal of starting suborbital flight next spring, the program that envisions taking wealthy tourists six at a time to the edge of space for a brief experience of weightlessness and a view of Earth below."
It's taking me time to sift through the censorship, too.
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"Russia backs Ukrainian separatist vote" by Peter Leonard | Associated Press November 04, 2014
KIEV — Moscow offered support Monday for rebel-organized elections in eastern Ukraine, an endorsement that could keep the West’s sanctions against Russia in place.
Pro-Russia separatist authorities said Sunday’s vote, which saw two rebel leaders easily reconfirmed in their roles, gives them a powerful mandate to slip further from Ukrainian rule.
Plans for the election had been condemned by the European Union and the United States, which said it violated Ukrainian law and undermined a 2-month-old cease-fire deal that has existed mainly on paper.
‘‘The United States deplores and does not recognize [Sunday’s] so-called separatist elections in eastern Ukraine, nor do we recognize any of the leaders chosen in this illegal vote,’’ State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Monday. ‘‘If Russia were to recognize the so-called elections, it would only serve to isolate it further.‘‘
Russia’s Foreign Ministry indicated in a statement it would refrain from supporting outright independence for the Donbass, as Ukraine’s heavily industrial eastern regions are known collectively.
‘‘In view of the elections, it is extremely important to take active steps toward promoting sustained dialogue between central Ukrainian authorities and the representatives of the Donbass,’’ the statement said.
A rebuke was swift in coming from Germany, which deems Russia’s position on the vote in the rebel-held areas detrimental to the September truce signed in the Belarusian capital, Minsk. That accord envisioned local elections being held under Kiev’s supervision.
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said that because the elections were not carried out under Ukrainian law, they ‘‘can have no legal relevance’’ and will deepen the crisis.
The head of the election body in the main rebel city of Donetsk, Roman Lyagin, said inescapable conclusions needed to be drawn from the polls.
"Kiev has to come to terms with the idea that Donbass is not part of Ukraine," he said. "Whether they will recognize the result of our vote or not is Kiev's problem."
Any hardening of secessionist views portends more unrest in the east, where more than 4,000 people have been killed in six months of fighting between government troops and rebel forces.
U.S. and European sanctions against Russia in response to the Kremlin's support for the insurgency have dented an economy already teetering on the brink of recession. Investors have balked at taking risks in Moscow and capital flight is at full throttle.
Related: The Low Price of Oil
Despite Moscow's seeming unwillingness to compromise on Ukraine, resolve had wavered among some EU members over whether keep all the economic sanctions in place. With its support for the separatist vote, however, Moscow has sealed its fate in the short-term.
"The more Russia appears to be doubling down in Ukraine and using the separatist elections to keep the country divided and weak, then the more difficult alleviating the EU sanctions will be," said Joshua Shifrinson, an assistant professor at the George Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University.
Yeah, that's a good place to get expertise.
The separatist vote came on the heels of national parliamentary elections in Ukraine that marked the ascendancy of several staunchly pro-Western parties.
But that's no reason to object or deplore.
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And look what happens when you vote the wrong way:
"Ukrainian president sends more troops to the east" by Peter Leonard and Nataliya Vasilyeva | Associated Press November 05, 2014
KIEV — Ukraine’s president said Tuesday that additional troops are being deployed to the east, where fighting continues between government forces and pro-Russia separatist fighters.
Petro Poroshenko said the units would defend cities under government control against possible incursions.
His remarks came after Ukrainian security officials said during the weekend that Russia has intensified the transfer of troops and military equipment to separatist rebels. Moscow denies it aids the rebels.
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Tensions have spiked since the weekend, when rebels held an election that was condemned by the West and Ukraine as illegal and destabilizing.
‘‘In recent days, Russia-supported separatists have publicly stated their intention to expand the territory under their control. We strongly condemn ongoing separatist attacks in Mariupol and Dubalsiva and around the Donetsk Airport,’’ US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters in Washington.
‘‘Any attempt to push further into Ukraine would be another violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and a gross violation of the Minsk agreements signed by Russia, Ukraine, and the separatists,’’ she added, referring to the much-violated cease-fire agreed upon in September.
I can't hear you over the saber-rattling, honey.
Ukraine and Western governments say Sunday’s vote gravely endangered the cease-fire, which envisioned local elections across the whole of the east but under Ukrainian law. Russia, however, quickly lent its support to the vote.
Ukraine has been looking for a reason to continue the war.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, underlining her displeasure over what she said was Russia’s role in the conflict, said Tuesday there is no reason yet to lift European Union sanctions against Moscow.
Even if it hurts her own economy. That's how $lavish western leaders have become.
Merkel said she hopes for a diplomatic solution to Ukraine’s crisis but added the vote shows ‘‘how difficult it is even to maintain agreements that have been made, if we look at the illegal elections.’’
And you know who is behind it all?
Russia, Russia, Russia, Russia, Russia, Russia, Moscow, Crimea, annexed, Russia, Russia, Russia, Moscow.
Clear on it all now?
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So they send the troops and caught off the aid, huh?
"Ukraine will halt subsidies to rebel-held areas" by Peter Leonard | Associated Press November 06, 2014
KIEV — Ukraine will freeze budget subsidies for the eastern territories controlled by pro-Russian separatists, the prime minister announced Wednesday — a move that could worsen the already grievous economic conditions there.
Aging industrial operations in Ukraine’s economically depressed but coal-rich east have for many years relied heavily on state subsidies.
Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk told a government meeting that $2.6 billion in state support will be held back from rebel-held areas in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. He did not say what time period that subsidy figure represented.
Related: Ukraine’s Stunning Election-Results
The war party won, huh?
Yatsenyuk said the payment of pensions and government benefits to residents in conflict-stricken parts of the east will resume after separatist forces have surrendered there.
That's extortion.
The government has not been paying pensions in those areas for several months but has said back payments will be paid to recipients when the rebels move out.
Ukraine’s government has blamed Russia for fomenting the last six months of fighting between government forces and separatist fighters in the east. Moscow denies that it supplies rebel fighters with either manpower or military equipment.
Yatsenyuk said suspending subsidies to the rebel-occupied areas would cut off a vital source of funding for rebel forces.
‘‘The money we pay into those territories today does not get to the people but is stolen by Russian bandits, and this would be nothing but directly supporting Russian terrorism,’’ he said.
The regions are among the most economically depressed in Ukraine, and living standards have slipped further since hostilities erupted.
Yatsenyuk said gas and electricity from government-held regions would continue to be supplied to rebel zones.
‘‘Those are our citizens and the government will not allow these people to freeze, as this would lead to a humanitarian catastrophe,’’ he said.
But killing them with heavy weapons is fine!
A cease-fire was agreed upon in early September, but fighting has still continued. More than 4,000 people have been killed in the region since the conflict began in April, according to UN estimates.
Deputy Defense Minister Petro Mekhed was quoted as saying Wednesday that military intelligence had noted a recent increase in the number of Russian troops in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Fearing an imminent escalation in hostilities, President Petro Poroshenko said additional troops are being deployed to the east to defend cities still under government control against any possible incursions.
Ukraine and Western governments have heaped criticism on Sunday’s rebel-organized election, saying it violated the September truce. On Tuesday, the separatist leader in the Donetsk region, Alexander Zakharchenko, 38, was sworn in as head of a self-declared secessionist territory.
Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany indicated Wednesday that more rebel leaders in eastern Ukraine could be added to lists of those targeted by European Union sanctions.
Speaking to reporters in Paris, Secretary of State John F. Kerry said he urged Poroshenko this week to ‘‘continue to take the high road’’ with the Minsk agreement ‘‘and not to fall into the possibility invited by measures taken by Russia to engage in a tit-for-tat process.’’
He said Poroshenko agreed, and ‘‘could not have been more clear about his determination to maintain that high moral ground.’’
I hope you are seeing why I can no longer read this disgusting slop.
The main rebel stronghold of Donetsk saw regular shelling throughout Wednesday. Fighting in the city has been focused around the airport, which remains in the hands of government troops.
Two teenagers were killed when a school was hit by shelling in a village outside the main rebel stronghold of Donetsk.
Obviously by Ukraine forces; otherwise, it would not be a throwaway afterthought paragraph.
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"Ukraine accuses Russia of delivering more arms to rebels" by Karoun Demirjian and Michael Birnbaum | Washington Post November 08, 2014
MOSCOW — Ukraine accused Russia on Friday of supplying fresh military equipment and troops to pro-Russia rebels in eastern Ukraine, threatening the collapse of a tenuous two-month-old cease-fire.
Colonel Andriy Lysenko, a Ukrainian military spokesman, said 32 tanks, 16 artillery launchers, and 30 trucks carrying munitions and personnel had come into the Luhansk region from Russia.
He did not provide specific evidence to back up his claims, and since Ukraine does not control long stretches of its border with Russia, it was not immediately clear how the military obtained such specific information.
Ukraine’s military also said Friday that it had killed up to 200 separatist fighters who they said were firing on the army around the Donetsk airport, a scene of some of the most intense fighting in the region. Lysenko said five soldiers were killed in the past 24 hours, up slightly from previous days.
Earlier in the week, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the Western alliance had noticed Russian troops moving closer to the Ukrainian border. A NATO military spokesman said Friday that the alliance was investigating the new Ukrainian reports. Foreign Minister John Baird of Canada tweeted his concerns Wednesday about reports of ‘‘Russia’s provocative actions,’’ calling them ‘‘proof that the Kremlin seeks to hamper the peace process in Ukraine.’’
I'm so sick and tired of war-mongering slop passing itself off as news.
A spokesman for Russia’s Defense Ministry criticized Baird and denied NATO’s reports in a briefing in Moscow on Friday, just hours before Lysenko charged that the Russian military was not only approaching but had actually crossed the border into rebel-held regions.
I'm sure U.S. spy satellites would have seen it if they had and there would be a huge article about it.
Ukraine and Russia have traded accusations over responsibility for stoking a conflict between government troops and pro-Russian militias in eastern Ukraine that has raged for seven months and claimed more than 4,000 lives.
Those accusations have escalated in the wake of elections in the rebel-held areas of eastern Ukraine last weekend.
President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine said such elections jeopardized ‘‘the entire peace process.’’
Meaning he was looking for an excuse to junk them.
Earlier this week, he ordered the deployment of army units to parts of the east and south of the country to prevent a potential offensive. He also called for scrapping a law granting special status to rebel-held areas of eastern Ukraine.
The Kremlin on Friday appeared to soften its rhetoric toward Kiev regarding the election. Yuri Ushakov, the top foreign policy aide to President Vladimir Putin of Russia, said that Russia ‘‘respects’’ the will of voters in the rebel election, rather than using the word ‘‘recognition,’’ apparently because it has weightier legal implications.
Ushakov also refrained from calling the rebel-held territory ‘‘Novorossiya,’’ or New Russia, the separatists’ term for the area, instead calling it the Donetsk and Luhansk region.
He said that although Putin and President Obama have not made specific plans to meet at upcoming summits in Beijing and Australia, ‘‘the leaders have a good chance of talking to each other on the go, on their feet.’’
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Dead teenagers killed in artillery strike? By the good guys?
"Russia to skip nuclear terror summit" Associated Press November 05, 2014
VIENNA — Russia informed the United States that it will boycott the 2016 Nuclear Security Summit, diplomats said Tuesday, potentially stripping the meeting of one of its key participants and hurting efforts initiated by President Obama to reduce the threat of nuclear terrorism.
Officials had said Monday that Moscow was absent from last week’s initial summit planning session in Washington but had left unclear whether Russia planned to attend the summit.
On Tuesday, two diplomats said the boycott applied to the 2016 meeting as well. They cited as their source a diplomatic note from Moscow to the United States and other nations planning to participate. The diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity.
One diplomat said the note expressed opposition to the summit because of its political nature. Russia has participated in such summits in the past. But the diplomat, who is familiar with Moscow’s stance, said it had reservations while at the last meeting in March at The Hague. He added that the ‘‘changed political atmosphere’’ — shorthand for Russia-US tensions over Ukraine — added to the Kremlin’s decision to stay away.
The summits, initiated by Obama in 2010, are aimed at preventing terrorists from getting weapons-grade nuclear material.
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Also see:
In targeting rights group, Putin shows his KGB roots
Apple CEO’s statement he’s gay triggers removal of iPhone statue in Russia
That makes some people mad.
NEXT DAY UPDATES:
Families, friends mourn MH17 victims in Amsterdam
Amid sanctions and falling oil prices, Russia floats its sinking currency
They are delinking from the dollar and selling them off, and somehow that's a bad thing.
