REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
Russian president Vladimir Putin has passed a draconian law that calls for the arrest of anyone who is openly gay or supportive of gay rights.
–Russia‘s upper house of parliament on Wednesday passed a controversial bill banning the distribution of so-called “gay propaganda” to minors, which critics have said will be used to justify homophobic actions and arbitrary prosecution of- gays.
-President Vladimir Putin said: “We ask that (other countries) do not interfere in our regulation,”
–The law will “ensure informational safety of minors from propaganda… that negatively impacts a child’s character,” said senator Lyudmila Bokova, who introduced the bill and urged everyone to approve it.
WASHINGTON — Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday told President Obama to take a flying leap by refusing to turn over spy-secrets leaker Edward Snowden — who for a third day remained lounging in a Moscow airport.
“Snowden is a free person,” Putin proclaimed during a news conference in Turku, Finland, where he feigned annoyance at getting dragged into the closely watched incident.
“I’d prefer not to deal with this issue at all,” he said. “It’s like shearing a piglet — too much squealing, too little wool.
June 18, 2013: President Barack Obama listens to French President Francois Hollande during the G-8 summit at the Lough Erne golf resort in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland. (AP)
President Obama will renew his push for a reduction in the world’s nuclear stockpiles during a foreign-policy speech in Berlin Wednesday, according to a senior administration official.
Obama will propose a one-third reduction in U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear warheads, lowering the total number of warheads in each country to between 1,000 and 1,100, the official said.
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Ewen MacAskill, Nick Davies, Nick Hopkins, Julian Borger and James Ball The Guardian,
erican spies based in the UK intercepted the top-secret communications of the then Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, during his visit to Britain for the G20 summit in London, leaked documents reveal.
The details of the intercept were set out in a briefing prepared by the National Security Agency (NSA), America’s biggest surveillance and eavesdropping organisation, and shared with high-ranking officials from Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
In a historic twist of irony, the president of Russia who formerly headed the secretive KGB spy agency is now lecturing the president of the United States on protecting the privacy of citizens. Russia’s Vladimir Putin, in a meeting with RT (Russia Today) journalists, said data surveillance is acceptable, but only if it’s done within the law.
“Such methods are in demand. But you can’t just listen to the phone call in Russia; you need a special order from court,” Putin said.
“This is how this should be done in civilized society while tackling terrorism with the use of any technical means. If it is in the framework of the law, then it’s OK. If not it is unacceptable.”
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