“We should meet today. It’ll be impossible to do it tomorrow, we can meet only today,” Fogle told the ‘recruitee’ FSB officer minutes before the arranged meeting in Moscow’s Vorontsovsky park.The FSB recorded two phone calls of the alleged spy, with the first one being of particular interest to the counterintelligence agency. In it, the alleged CIA spy promises a million dollar reward in return for the officer’s services.“You can earn up to 1 million dollars per year and I’ll give 100 thousand up front – but only if we meet right now. Yes or No?” the US diplomat can be heard saying on the tape.According to the FSB, the conversation was recorded close to midnight Moscow time, as Fogle was walking towards the park through the city’s southern dormitory district.The agents had reportedly been given orders not to arrest Fogle until he met with ‘the subject’ at the agreed spot. Right before the arrest, he allegedly made another call, describing the place the FSB officer should be waiting.“There’s got to be a staircase in front of you, at the park entrance. Wait, I can see you, I’ll be right there,” the diplomat says on the recording of the brief second call.‘The subject’ that Fogle was allegedly meeting to recruit, took a direct role in the suspected spy’s arrest, the FSB later said. … Read More
US government defends phone-records seizure
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US shale oil boom will make OPEC voice smaller in energy market- IEA
The US shale oil will meet most of the demand from across the world in the next five years, even if it goes into ‘recovery motion’. The developing economies outside OECD, such as BRICS countries and Saudi Arabia, that’ll be driving increased demand.The forecast is made by the International Energy Agency (IEA) in its closely watched semi-annual report.“North America has set off a supply shock that is sending ripples throughout the world,” said IEA Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven.“The good news is that this is helping to ease a market that was relatively tight for several years. The technology that unlocked the bonanza in places like North Dakota can and will be applied elsewhere, potentially leading to a broad reassessment of reserves,” Maria van der Hoeven added.The US Government has forecast daily oil production in the country to skyrocket in 2014 to the highest level since 1988.The price of oil slid below $95 a barrel on Tuesday as the Paris-based IEA, that advises 28 countries about energy issues, raised its U.S. oil production forecasts and cut its prediction for global crude demand.On a global demand side, the IEA forecast it to rise by a total of 6.1 million barrels a day over the next five years, from 90.6 million barrels a day in 2013 to 96.7 million barrels a day in 2018.The IEA says supply capacity of non-OPEC countries is set to be steadily rise, while hurdles in North and sub-Saharan Africa, as well as a regional fallout from the ‘Arab Spring’ will be affecting supply from OPEC members.In case global demand rises, this will leave OPEC – an organization largely seen as the last resort to meet demand fluctuations – with the output levels almost unchanged from the current levels, the IEA said.Global refining industry and oil trading patterns are also set to be affected by the rising capacity of the developing world, the report said.“European refiners will see no let-up from the squeeze caused by increasing US product exports and the new Asian and Middle Eastern refining titans,” the paper specified. … Read More
Russian MP wants Nazi sympathizers to face criminal charges
Sergey Zheleznyak, deputy-speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament, has declared he was insulted by some of the online statements made by members of the opposition movement on May 9, the day Russia marks victory over Nazi Germany. Zheleznyak pointed at participants of the Bolotnaya Square anti-government protests as authors of the remarks in question. He neither gave particular names nor specified which exact words had angered him, only citing those loosely. “They say that they hate parades, they consider the St. George ribbon a fetish, they are not sure what’s better – Russia’s victory or if Hitler had won. They think they have the right to put to doubt our victory in the Great Patriotic War [WWII],” according to Zheleznyak, as cited by Regnum news agency. He demanded the bill on criminal prosecution for attempts to justify Nazism and for questioning the USSR’s role in the WWII victory to be back on the Duma agenda. The proposal for the bill was submitted to the Duma in late March. Under it, offenders could face fines of up to 300,000 rubles (roughly US$ 9,500), or be denied the right to hold certain ranks, or be sentenced to two years of compulsory labor or to a year in jail. A similar proposal has been under the Duma consideration since 2009. The older version is tougher with fines of up to 500,000 rubles (US$16,000) and potential prison term of up to five years. … Read More
US government secretly obtained AP phone records
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IRS accused of targeting US conservative parties
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‘Usual suspect’: Turkey accuses Syrian govt of targeting refugees
The investigations into the bombings has almost been completed, Turkish interior minister Muammer Güler told local press, announcing that the perpetrators were “linked to the Syrian regime and intelligence agency” and had nothing to do with the Syrian opposition and the refugees.Five people were arrested following the blast, three of whom were said to be Syrian nationals. Top Turkish government officials, including Prime Minister Erdogan, were quick to place the blame with Syria, despite lacking any evidence at the time.The “usual suspect” in such a horrific attack is Syrian government, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc announced after the blasts pledging to do “what is necessary” if Assad regime’s guilt is proven.”We know that the people taking refuge in Hatay have become targets for the Syrian regime,” he said. “We think of them as the usual suspects when it comes to planning such a horrific attack.” Turkey reserves the right to take “every kind of measure” but so far is not planning to call an emergency NATO meeting, said foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu, while Prime Minister Erdogan announced that Turkey will take “all retaliatory measures it deems necessary.”Provocation to disrupt Syria peace talks?Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoğlu called the attacks a “provocation,” saying that the timing of the blasts was not coincidental, referring to the recently proposed peace talks sponsored by Russia and the US. “Such provocation can [come to mind] in such a critical transition phase regarding Syria. It is not a coincidence that this happened when diplomatic traffic is intensifying. We invite our citizens to be prudent,” Davutoğlu told reporters during his visit in Germany on Saturday.Russia has raised concerns that groundless accusations and any subsequent adventurous third-party action could be disruptive.“In the terrorist attack in Turkey, Syria was accused again – as it is always blamed for everything. Someone wants to disrupt the peace conference and to push ahead with the use of military force,” Alexei Pushkov, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Russia’s Duma stated on Twitter.The deadly blasts could even be an inside job, in the hope of encouraging international military action against Assad’s government, according to Marcus Papadopoulos, an editor for the UK’s Politics First magazine.“Turkey has been pushing for intervention in Syria, Western military intervention. It’s been pushing for a no-fly zone over northern Syria,” Papadopoulos said. “Given that Turkish generals a couple of years ago were planning to provoke a war with Greece, why is it implausible that Turkish generals or members of Turkish intelligence services wouldn’t be doing the same today, to try and provoke a war against Syria and thereby bringing in NATO,” he told RT.Border town protests Turkey’s policy on Syria, violence spilloverSaturday’s twin car bombs exploded outside the city hall and post office, killing 43 and injuring a further hundred people and destroying local buildings in the country’s deadliest attack in more than a decade.A third explosion was later reported in the same city. However, local press later reported that the incident was unrelated.Police reinforcements were dispatched to the city after the bombs ripped through the streets of Reyhanli, which is home to thousands of Syrians who have fled the conflict. Some 300,000 are now resident in Turkey overall. Their presence has caused some tension in the city on the Syrian border, especially among those unhappy with the influx of migrants.Following the blasts approximately a hundred of the city’s residents took to the streets outside Turkey’s Foreign Ministry, calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Erdogan and accusing him of a failed policy towards Syria which they believe led to the assault.Some locals have also blamed Syrian residents for bringing violence over the frontier, resulting in attacks against refugees. “We heard that there were some reactions from local Turkish people against Syrian cars and Syrian people. Police reinforcements have been sent to prevent that sort of thing,” an anonymous Turkish government official told Reuters.Some 60 people also marched in Ankara, Turkey’s capital following the blasts. The demonstrations were quickly dispersed. … Read More
