Latest Russian Claims of Victory in North Caucasus Ring Hollow

The Russian propaganda machine described the death of each and every secondary member of the armed resistance movement in the North Caucasus as having done “irreparable damage to the insurgency.”
According to the Russian narrative, every insurgent they manage to eliminate turns out to be an important liaison between Chechen militants and Osama Bin Laden. However the revealing truth is that there have not been as many foreign volunteers in Chechnya as the Russian media have tirelessly been reporting since 1995.

According to the Kremlin, there have been thousands of foreign mercenaries – a claim which, does not deserve a serious refutation because of its absurdity and excessively propagandized nature. Such claims are aimed at placing Russia side by side with the United States in the common struggle against international terrorism…..more HERE

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Russian Medvedev Wants To Stay On As Russian President Against Putin

President Dmitry Medvedev is pushing to extend his tenure in the Kremlin against the wishes of Russia’s powerful prime minister, Vladimir Putin, a senior politician from the country’s ruling party has told the Guardian.

Konstantin Zatulin, a prominent MP with United Russia, which dominates parliament and is headed by Putin, said Medvedev’s allies were waging a campaign to undermine the prime minister behind a public facade of unity between the two men.

Putin has emphasised his credentials as a conservative statist who rejects “liberal experiments”. Medvedev, by contrast, has pushed his image as a tech-savvy moderniser and anti-corruption crusader.
He recently removed top members of government from the boards of state companies such as oil giant Rosneft in favour of independent directors, a move seen as a blow to Putin’s “Kremlin Inc” view of the economy.

The split extends to foreign policy, where Medvedev promotes the “resetting” of relations with Washington, while Putin has nurtured his image as a hawk who rejects US unilateralism.
When Putin likened western military intervention in Libya to “medieval calls for crusades” last month, the president condemned the phrase a few hours later as “unacceptable”.

Russia: Caucasus “Successful Anti-Terror Operations” = 16 Killed

RT said “Russian security forces have carried out a string of successful anti-terror operations in the North Caucasus this week. Sixteen militants suspected of having links to Al-Qaeda were killed.”

The latest operation was carried out at the border between south Russia’s Stavropol Region and the Kabardino-Balkaria Republic, when ten militants, including at least two women, were killed. Some high-profile terrorists are reported to be among them as well.
Authorities say they will now run a series of DNA tests to identify those killed.

Similar operations were carried out the same week in Chechnya and Dagestan, with a number of alleged terrorists reported killed.

Russian President Sent Royal Wedding Present To William And Kate

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has congratulated Prince William on his wedding on April 29.
A Fedoskino lacquer box with a miniature panorama of 19th century Moscow featuring the Cathedral of Christ the Savior on its lid was sent as a present to Prince William and Kate Middleton.

BUT William, Kate refuse gifts, ask for charity donations
William’s parents Prince Charles and Lady Diana had a private list of gifts held at the General Trading Company in London’s Sloane Street and they had received more than 6,000 gifts from all over the world at their 1981 wedding.
Queen Elizabeth II and Duke of Edinburgh received more than 2,500 wedding gifts at their 1947 wedding. Gifts from Britons included bedsocks, 131 pairs of nylon stockings and 500 tins of pineapple.

Engaged couples in the UK traditionally used to set up a wedding gift registry in a shop or departmental store to ensure that their guests gift them the stuff they need.
However, Prince William and Kate Middleton have asked to donate to charities that they have specially chosen instead. There has been speculation that they have set up a gift list registry for close friends, but there has been no confirmation on this.
They have listed 26 charities, including some based in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and have set up a charitable gift fund for the purpose.

Uzbekistan Has Set Up Special Body To Censor Rap Music

The government of Uzbekistan has set up a special body to censor rap music.

Rappers in the Uzbek language have become popular among young people in Uzbekistan and have spread on Youtube, but the government is unhappy over their growing influence.
Now the singers are being tasked to clean up their lyrics and remove anything offensive — and replace them with more tunes about the Motherland, featuring virtues like loyalty, kindness, and love of one’s family.

Uzbeknavo’s website says among the council’s obligations will be to create a data base of rap singers and hold round tables once a month to “coordinate” the musicians’ work.
The rappers are also to be steered toward more patriotic and upbeat fare than the usual dark gangsta fare, and they are supposed to support conservative morals.