Russia formally stakes claim to North Pole and vast Arctic expanse

A titanium capsule with the Russian flag is seen seconds after it was planted by the Mir-1 mini submarine on the Arctic Ocean seabed under the North Pole in 2007. Photo: AP

 

Moscow: Russia formally staked a claim on Tuesday to a vast area of the Arctic Ocean, including the North Pole.

If the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, the UN commission that arbitrates sea boundaries accepts Russia’s claim, the waters will be subject to Moscow’s oversight on economic matters, including fishing and oil and gas drilling. However, Russia will not have full sovereignty.

Russia issues ultimatum to Ukraine: Surrender or face military assault

Calling Obama’s bluff and showing how incapable both America and Europe all in one step. The repercussions for this are likely nothing as they will have a limited or no effect. Obama can do nothing but continue to make hollow threats of ‘economic sanctions’. Russia does not care, nor do they think the same, as they are awash in oil and gas export profits.

At this moment, war looks like a 95% chance if the interim leader of Ukraine sticks to his word. The other 5% chance is betting on Ukrainian leaders defecting like the previous head of the navy.

Put on your seat belts, we’re in uncharted territory with an angry Putin bent on retaking the Ukraine that was destabilized by Berlin and Washington.

Elsewhere in Ukraine, pro-Russian demonstrators raise the Russian flag on government buildings; speaker of Russia’s lower parliament house said that ‘for now, there is no need’ to send armed forces.

Russia’s Black Sea Fleet has told Ukrainian forces in Crimea to surrender by 5 A.M. on Tuesday or face a military assault, Interfax news agency quoted a source in the Ukrainian Defense Ministry as saying.

The ultimatum, Interfax said, was issued by Alexander Vitko, the fleet’s commander. The ministry did not immediately confirm the report and there was no immediate comment by the Black Sea Fleet, which has a base in Crimea, where Russian forces are in control.

“If they do not surrender before 5 A.M. tomorrow, a real assault will be started against units and divisions of the armed forces across Crimea,” the agency quoted the ministry source as saying.

NSA Leaker “Outed” as Russian Agent

What was previously here mentioned as a possibility is now highly likely. After all, you don’t go joining KGB ‘veterans groups’ randomly for the fun of it. You have to be known, and have a history of being known. The aim is clear: As Wikileaks has the same goal, which is to tarnish the USA’s image as bad as it can across the whole world, thus diminishing its legitimacy as a world superpower.

The year is 2013 and America is still being sold New Lies for Old (PDF File).

“You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.” — Abraham Lincoln

The media have been given important new information in the case of NSA leaker Edward Snowden and don’t seem to know what to do with it. Snowden has been “outed” by the Russians as their agent.

The Washington Post reports that “Before American fugitive Edward Snowden arrived in Moscow in June—an arrival that Russian officials have said caught them by surprise—he spent several days living at the Russian Consulate in Hong Kong, a Moscow newspaper reported Monday.”

In other words, the Russians were in on the deception all along. It was an example of what the old Soviet KGB called “disinformation.” The Russians wanted people to believe that Snowden was a whistleblower desperately searching for a place to go.