EU: Four deaths after taking Russian Sputnik V vaccine - by Andrew Rettman

Four people recently died in Russia shortly after taking the Sputnik V anti-corona jab in previously unreported cases, which are being taken "seriously" by the EU regulator, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in Amsterdam.

Six other Russians also had medical complications after taking the vaccine, according to internal case files from RosPotrebNadzor, a Russian body responsible for administering vaccinations,

Read more at: Four deaths after taking Russian Sputnik V vaccine

Syria: Russia and China veto UN resolution on Syria - by Anita Snow

Russia and China have vetoed a Security Council resolution backing an Arab League peace plan that calls for Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down. The other 13 council members, including the US, France and Britain, voted in favor of the resolution aimed at stopping the ongoing violence in Syria.

The vote took place as Syrian forces pummeled the city of Homs with mortar and artillery fire that activists say killed more than 200 people in one of the bloodiest episodes of the uprising against Assad's regime. The UN says more than 5,400 people have been killed over almost 11 months in a Syrian government crackdown on civilian protests.

In Europe, protesters reacted by forcing their way into the Syrian diplomatic base in Athens, while similar scenes played out at embassies in Berlin, Cairo and Kuwait yesterday. Angry scenes erupted outside the Syrian embassy in London today just hours after a number of demonstrators were arrested for storming into the building.

For more: Russia and China veto UN resolution on Syria - Middle East - World - The Independent

U.S. Report Cites 'Persistent' Chinese, Russian Spying for Economic Gain

The U.S. government accused the Chinese of being the world's "most active and persistent" perpetrators of economic spying, an unusual move designed to spur stronger U.S. and international action to combat rampant industrial espionage threatening U.S. economic growth.

Russian intelligence agents also are conducting extensive spying to collect U.S. economic data and technology, according to a U.S. intelligence report released Thursday that concluded China and Russia are "the most aggressive collectors" of U.S. economic information and technology.

"The nations of China and Russia, through their intelligence services and through their corporations, are attacking our research and development," said U.S. counterespionage chief Robert Bryant.

For more: U.S. Report Cites 'Persistent' Chinese, Russian Spying for Economic Gain - WSJ.com

Russia-Denmark cooperation: turning a new page - by Denisova Olga

Russia will supply gas to Denmark as the Nord Stream pipeline project is scheduled to be commissioned this year. Denmark has confirmed its intention to assist Russia in implementation of other energy projects as well.

Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin arrived in Copenhagen on Tuesday accompanied by a group of the country’s leading businessmen to offer Denmark a portfolio of promising agreements. The results of the talks proved that both countries are interested in turning a fresh page in energy cooperation.

During the talks with his Danish counterpart Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Mr. Putin thanked Denmark for joining the Nord Stream project. Denmark was the first country to approve the construction of the pipeline on its territory. When the new route is launched, Denmark will be purchasing from Russia 1 billion cubic meters of gas, with plans to buy 1 billion cubic meters more with time. First supplies are scheduled this year, said Mr. Putin.

For more: Russia-Denmark cooperation: turning a new page: Voice of Russia

Middle East: The blame game has started in the West - by Sreeram Chaulia

After every major foreign policy catastrophe in the contemporary history of the United States, the blame game goes around as to who "lost it'.

Post Mortems of events that generate a crisis for American overseas interests essentially go along two opposing lines. The first one is technical, which involves dissecting the minutiae of why the nation's assortment of spies did not provide accurate advance information so that the dreaded outcome could have been occluded or at least hedged against.

The second one is political, which asks why American interests were poorly defined and executed by the highest office holders in power when the realities on the ground were clearly headed towards a shocking denouement that would set back US influence in a country or region for decades.

The current self-introspection in the wake of the overthrows of pro-American despots in Tunisia and Egypt fit neatly into this dualistic framework. The US intelligence community is finding itself under a heap of brickbats from politicians and hindsight-equipped pundits for turning a blind eye to signs of the popular mobilization and protests that have toppled two solid US allies already and threaten to scalp some more in a hurry.

Note EU-Digest: Case in point in reference to the the above report can be found in an editorial written yesterday by KT McFarland, a Fox News National Security Analyst, who served under the Ford and Reagan Administrations and who wrote former Defense chief Weinbergers "Principles of War speech" in 1984. In this recent article for Fox News she commented: "if the dominoes fall away from us, we could be locked into a clash of civilizations of biblical proportions between the democratic West and a radical Islamist Caliphate bent on spreading Sharia law throughout the world. If the dominoes fall toward us, we could see a flowering of freedom, development and economic opportunity throughout the region, and a golden era of peace and prosperity throughout much of the world. The stakes could not be higher. That’s why it is crucial that the United States do everything in its power to help the dominoes to fall in its own direction. While the outcome is up to the Egyptians … and Tunisians … and Libyans … and Iranians … there is much we can do to help their efforts along. There is no turning back the clock. To bemoan the stability those autocratic regimes once offered Israel and the U.S. is like crying over spilled milk. We need to get over it and move on. America cannot change the past, but it can affect the future."

Ms. McFarland is living in the past. The US is not in the same position it was ten years ago and has very little power to influence how the dominoes will fall. What they can do and which is much more effective is that the US and the EU openly announce their withdrawal of all support, including military, from every despotic regime in the Middle East and that they state that aid will not be resumed unless those regimes start immediate discussions with pro-democratic forces, followed by fair and free elections. That is the way to go. If not, Russia and China, now sitting on the sidelines (both with regimes which can not be classified as Democratic), will take the West to the cleaners.

For more: Asia Times Online :: Middle East News, Iraq, Iran current affairs

Swine flu rising in Russia, Europe

The number of people infected with the pandemic A/H1N1 swine flu virus is on the rise in Russia and Europe, a senior Russian official said.

Russia's chief sanitary doctor, Gennady Onishchenko, said A-type flu viruses account for about 71 percent of all seasonal flu cases in Europe, and 93 percent of them are swine flu.

'The reports are alarming, they show that the A/H1N1 pandemic virus is on the rise again,' he said.

For more: Swine flu rising in Russia, Europe

CSM: Georgia-The Unstable NATO Ally Seeing Red: As it blames Russia for 'mutiny' - by Fred Weir

For the complete report from the csmonitor.com click on this link

Georgia-The Unstable NATO Ally Seeing Red: As it blames Russia for 'mutiny' - by Fred Weir

It looked like a recipe for political crisis even before a Georgian tank battalion apparently mutinied on Tuesday: • Nearly a month of rolling street demonstrations have virtually shut down the central area of the capital, with thousands of protesters daily demanding the resignation of Georgia's president, Mikhail Saakashvili. • Russian troops have been massing in the past week barely an hour's drive away in South Ossetia. • NATO-sponsored war games that Moscow furiously opposes are set to begin on Wednesday.Georgi Khutsishvili, chair of the International Center on Conflict and Negotiation in Tbilisi, says there are no "pro-Russian" forces, either among the opposition in Tbilisi's streets or within the Georgian army. "Our authorities are always seeing Moscow's hand in things," he says. "But I cannot imagine that any Georgian army battalion could revolt on Russian orders. I completely exclude this. Whatever happened, it must be explained by internal factors." Experts say the Kremlin appears increasingly concerned over the damage to Russia's fragile dialogue with NATO, begun with high hopes barely a month ago. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev last week called on the Western alliance to cancel the "shortsighted" war games, and ordered Russian officials not to attend a NATO council meeting slated for Thursday.

Note EU-Digest: It is high time the EU distance itself from this very precarious situation in Georgia, mainly created by the unstable leadership of Mikhail Saakashvili

Pravda: Russia - Global economic crisis to last for 3 more years -

For the complete report from the Pravda.Ru click on this link

Russia - Global economic crisis to last for 3 more years

The Russian authorities have been lost in their own forecasts. First Vice Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov once said that Russia had already overcome the peak of the crisis. Hardly had the Russians rejoiced over the news when Finance Minister Aleksei Kudrin showed everyone from heaven to earth when he said that Russia was expecting a second wave of the crisis. “The bank crisis in Russia has just begun. It will come from the real sector of economy,” the head of Sberbank, German Gref said. Mr. Gref is certain that the Russian economy will have to face real problems in the nearest future. A great deal of Russian borrowers will not be able to pay off their debts. The share of ‘bad loans’ in Russian banks has already achieved 3.8 percent.

EU-Digest/La Stampa: A New World Order: EU - China - Russia? Why EU and China need Russia - by Nicholas Kimbrell

For the complete report from LASTAMPA..com.it click on this link

A New World Order: EU - China - Russia? Why EU and China need Russia - by Nicholas Kimbrell

It is necessary for the EU to go in a different direction, something which is already occurring with the idea of a Kerneuropa, which has its own constellation revolving around it, or the view of the EU as kind of super-market with some responsibilities which are shared and others which are kept rigorously separate. In any case, clarity is needed regarding the direction in which the EU, and not just Russia, is heading.

Note EU-Digest: Author and political analyst Parag Khanna of the New America Foundation set the tone at todays (Friday') opening seminar during a gathering of international scholars, diplomats and political analysts gathered in Beirut,when he said: "After the Uni-Polar Moment," suggesting that "the return to uni-polarity, American hegemony, is literally impossible." Advocating a more rigorous and collective analysis of multi-polarity, particularly in relation to Russia and India, Khanna cited the US, China and the EU as the incumbent and future "centers of gravity." Most of the speakers seemed to challenge the notion of US hegemony without questioning the still-dominant role Washington holds in much of the world. Indeed, featured speakers from rising powers sought to define their policies as distinct from the proactive US unilateralism, particularly in the Middle East. Chu Shulong, deputy director of the Institute of International Strategic and Development Studies at Tsinghua University in Beijing, emphasized China's desire to end its historic isolation and win regional and global "friends" based on economic and diplomatic terms. It seems the EU will soon need to seek more strategic and economically practical alliances than its present Trans-Atlantic Alliance which has mainly made it a cost sharing partner of the US in military adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Guardian co.uk:com: Bush rebuking Russia? Putin must be splitting his sides - by Simon Jenkins

For the complete report from The Guardian click on this link

Bush rebuking Russia? Putin must be splitting his sides - by Simon Jenkins

Putin would die laughing if he read this week's American newspapers. The president, George Bush, declared the Russian invasion of Georgia "disproportionate and unacceptable". This is taken as a put-down to the vice-president, Dick Cheney, who declared the invasion "will not go unanswered", apparently something quite different. Bush says that great powers should not go about "toppling governments in the 21st century", as if he had never done such a thing. Cheney says that the invasion has "damaged Russia's standing in the world", as if Cheney gave a damn. The lobby for sanctions against Russia is reduced to threatening to boycott the winter Olympics. Big deal.What is clear is that the Georgian president, Mikheil Saakashvili, is a poor advertisement for a Columbia University education. He thought he could reoccupy South Ossetia and call Russia's bluff while Putin was away at the Olympics. He found it was not bluff. Putin was waiting for just such an invitation to humiliate a man he loathes, and to deter any other Russian border state from applying to join Nato, an organization Russia had itself sought to join until it was rudely rebuffed.

Saakashvili thought he could call on the support of his neoconservative allies in Washington. Tbilisi is one of the few world cities in which Bush's picture is a pin-up and where an avenue is named after him. It turned out that such "support" was mere words.

National Post: 'New Europe' shows resolve'- "or are they just plain wrong like they were on Iraq?" - by Peter Goodspeed

For the complete report from the National Post click on this link

'New Europe' shows resolve' - "or are they just plain wrong like they were on Iraq?" - by Peter Goodspeed

The Five Day War has revealed deep new divisions between Old and New Europe.

There is an obvious rift within the EU's 27 member states and between former Soviet satellite states who want to take tough action against Moscow and the Western European powers who cautiously warn against antagonizing a resurgent Russia.Ironically, the divisions almost mirror the splits that surfaced in Europe over the 2003 invasion of Iraq, when Donald Rumsfeld, then the defense secretary, dismissed invasion critics, saying, "You're thinking of Europe as Germany and France. I don't. I think that's old Europe." His comments raised a furor, with Europeans accusing him of being both wrong and undiplomatic. Today, European tensions between the ageing West and the impatient, still insecure newcomers from the East are increasingly evident.

More immediately, New Europe's fears of being the next potential target of Russian aggression spurred Poland to conclude an agreement with Washington yesterday, establishing a controversial anti-missile defense shield on Polish soil. After 18 months of inconclusive bargaining, they signed a deal in which Washington will set up its new anti-missile shield in exchange for a promise to base 10 Patriot anti-missile batteries permanently in Poland. Washington also agreed to a mutual defense pact that commits each country to come to the others aid in a crisis.

Note EU-Digest "Some of the former European east block countries which are now members of the EU and who have enormously benefited from the economic aid provided to them by the EU seem to be unwilling to be part of a common European policy. They rather prefer to be part of the US sphere of influence. This should not be acceptable and they must be made to understand by the majority of the EU members that this behaviour is not conducive to the unity of the European Union.".

EU-Digest/Telegraph.co.uk: NATO, Energy and War - Georgia pays price for its Nato ambitions - by Robert Parson

For the complete report from the Telegraph click on this link

NATO, Energy and War - Georgia pays price for its Nato ambitions- by Robert Parsons

Two key events well beyond Georgia's borders have triggered Russia's fury. The first was Kosovo's declaration of independence in February and the new country's subsequent recognition by many Western states. This brought a public warning from Moscow that Kosovo's move to independence could set a precedent for Georgia's two breakaway regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The second was Nato's pledge at the Bucharest summit in April that membership of the Atlantic Alliance for both Georgia and Ukraine was not a matter of "if" but "when", although in deference to Russian objections, no timetable for entry was granted. This provoked Vladimir Putin, then still Russia's president, to promise more support for Georgia's breakaway regions.

Note EU-Digest : "Georgia's bid to join NATO is driven by its desire to drag other countries into its bloody undertakings, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said at a meeting Vladikavkaz to discuss measures to help those affected by the South Ossetian conflict. "I think both in Georgia and Russia, and in the rest of the world it has become absolutely clear that the desire of Georgian authorities to join NATO is motivated not by their ambition to form part of a global security system and contribute to the strengthening of international peace. Tbilisi's NATO bid is determined by other considerations, namely an attempt to embroil other nations in its bloody undertakings," Putin stressed.

The EU should react with calm to this explosive situation and not get embroiled in the emotional fallout by former Eastern European states in reaction to this conflict. The basic issue is that the subtle but very real expansion of power by NATO (US) towards the Russian border is seen by the Russians as threatening to their national security.

RIA Novosti - Polish premier to visit Russia in late Jan.

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Polish premier to visit Russia in late Jan.

Poland's new prime minister, Donald Tusk, will visit Russia in late January, the Polish parliamentary speaker said on Tuesday. Speaking during a video link between Warsaw and Moscow, Stefan Niesiolowski said: "We were glad to hear today that our premier is to visit Moscow in late January, and that Russia's foreign minister will visit Warsaw before then." Ties between Poland and Russia began to improve after the new pro-business government came to power in Poland in October. Moscow and Warsaw have since agreed to tackle the two main points of contention in their relations. Moscow has announced plans to lift an embargo on Polish meat supplies, and Warsaw pledged to lift a moratorium on a new EU-Russia cooperation pact it imposed in response to the trade restrictions, which it considered political.

Note EU-Digest: A Kremlin aide said Tuesday that consultations would be held with Poland early next year over Washington's plans to build a missile defense shield in Eastern Europe. "I am happy there will be discussions over the missile defense shield," the aide, Sergei Yastrzhembsky, said at a news conference. He added that the talks would be held in Warsaw. Washington wants to place interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic as part of a shield it says is designed to protect Europe from what they call "rogue states" such as Iran and North Korea.

Russia believes that the shield is targeted against its missile arsenal and poses a threat to its national security.

Guardian Unlimited: Russia - Sochi Olympic site win is making Environmentalists and Ecologists see red

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Russia - Sochi Olympic site win is making Environmentalists and Ecologists see red

"Our feelings are complicated and mixed," Andrei Petrov, the World Heritage coordinator at Greenpeace in Russia, told reporters on Thursday. "On the one side for me and all Russian citizens this is great news but on the other hand there is the construction of the Olympic Games in the buffer zone of a World Heritage Park."

Environmentalists fear the bobsleigh track and the Olympic village will eat into a kilometre-wide buffer zone protecting mountains, forests, rivers and wildlife in the Western Caucasus World Nature Heritage Site beyond the resort.Facilities at the Olympic village will dissect the traditional feeding and migration grounds of the brown bear and red deer, he added, as well as ripping up rare flowers and plants.

Scotsman.com News - Blair's 'frank' last exchange with Putin melts no ice - by James Kirkup

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Blair's 'frank' last exchange with Putin melts no ice - by James Kirkup

TONY Blair warned last night that tensions between Russia and the West will linger for years to come, even as Vladimir Putin appeared to give ground on the US missile defence system that triggered a nuclear threat earlier this week.

The Prime Minister, who will step down later this month, yesterday held his final meeting with Mr Putin, the Russian leader once seen by Britain as the best hope for a pro-Western, democratic Russia.