Putin is not going to Beslan

Russian President Vladimir Putin does not plan to visit Beslan on the anniversary of the terrorist attack on School No. 1, Kremlin's official spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

On September 3, Russia marks the Day of Solidarity in the fight against terrorism. "This is a memorial day, and it is on this day that we remember all victims who fell at the hands of terrorists as a result of horrendous terrorist acts," Peskov added.

Vladimir Putin visited Beslan on September 4, 2004, immediately after the terrorist attack at school. He visited the wounded at a local hospital and held a meeting with the leadership of North Ossetia.

On September 1, 2004, a group of militants seized School No.1 and held more than 1,200 students and teachers hostage for three days. Some of the hostages were shot, some others were killed during explosions and during the storm of the building. A total of 333 people, including 186 children, were killed. Shamil Basayev, the leader of Chechen terrorists, claimed responsibility for the hostage-taking terrorist attack.

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Thank Goodness For Russian-speaking Women!

By Romer Cherubim

One of the most saddening developments in recent times is the depressing amount of unjustified sexual harassment claims that have been made by women against men. Such allegations have been given succour by the Harvey Weinstein scandal in the US. The situation was already pretty bad before Weinstein. However, since this scandal broke, things have ratcheted up several notches.

The issue of sexual harassment itself is a very serious one and was rightly brought to public attention by the #MeToo Movement to counter the undisputed harassment to which women have been subjected for many years by men in positions of power. The treatment of this subject however has now escalated out of control.

There is a combination of factors behind this phenomenon. Part of the problem is that a claim for sexual harassment can be made years and even decades after the alleged misdemeanour first occurred. The absence of a Limitation period in countries like England for making complaints of sexual harassment to the Police is unfair to those, who are innocent of such allegations, yet still have to defend them many years after the supposed incident happened.

The victims of such abuse will say that you cannot put a time limit on assessing the gravity of rape or sexual assault in terms of the physical and psychological effects this abuse has on those, who have to endure it. Some victims recover quicker than others. That is only natural. Furthermore, the imposition of a deadline to report such mistreatment to the authorities will only trivialise the harrowing experiences these women have had. The women affected will also justify their decisions to delay making their complaints out of fear that they would not be believed that the rape or sexual assault actually happened. This is the Harvey Weinstein scenario. When it comes to believing one person over another with no other witnesses to the alleged wrongdoing, whom would you believe? - Harvey Weinstein, an Oscar-winning film mogul at the pinnacle of his career or a struggling actress. No contest, the answer is Weinstein.

However, what about those, who are accused of such a crime? While rape and sexual assault may be proven in many cases, there are likewise situations, when these offences are not just unproven, but did not happen. In the case of the latter, you have an altogether different victim - the man, who has to wrongly undergo the torment of being accused of being a sexual predator just because he rejected a woman's advances or ended a sexual relationship with her.

There is nowadays a distinct lack of fairness in the assessment of cases of rape and other sexual assault. The odds are stacked in favour of women. The authorities in England have tried to redress this imbalance by making it compulsory for women, complaining that they have been raped, to surrender their mobile phones to the Police. The reasoning for this is that the information on the mobile phones in the form of text messages, emails and photos, may hold clues as to the truth of these women's claims.

Men now have to accept that the days have gone when they could woo a woman the old-fashioned way. The thrill of the chase, starting with a man plucking up enough courage to ask a woman for her phone number, then taking her out on dates, making the woman his girlfriend and then consummating the union, is a thing of the past. Or is it?

Complaints about male sexual harassment are common in Western culture. However, if you go to Russia and other Russian-speaking countries, as a man, you will see a completely different story. Women in the West tend to be materialistic and, to some extent, selfish and not much more. However, many (but not all) Russian and Russian-speaking women are considerate, loving and nurturing. They believe that it is their responsibility to bring out the best in their men - an alien concept for women in the West. The fact that Russian and Russian-speaking women are among the most beautiful in the world is, of course, also a plus.

Many Western men join dating agencies, specifically designed to find Russian-speaking wives. These men spend much money in their quest to find their wives, often taking holidays in Russian-speaking countries. During these trips, the men go on a tour of several cities and have meet-ups with women, who are also members of the dating agencies to which the men have signed up. These men probably have the most enjoyable and spiritually uplifting holidays they will ever have. The men view the money they spend on these dating agencies and the trips they take to these countries, as an investment in their future happiness. What's more, they are right to do so. If they are lucky, these men end up finding women, who are not just beautiful, but are a source of strength emotionally and spiritually. These women make great wives. You can also bet that these women, like the vast majority of Russian-speaking women, are not malicious enough to make unjustified complaints of rape and sexual assault about their husbands to the authorities. Russian-speaking women are just not like that.

Why are Russian-speaking women nicer people than women in the West. Is it because Russian-speaking women tend to be more educated than Western women? Perhaps. Is it because society places more pressure on women in the West to have a certain standard of living, thereby ridding them of their innate femininity? Who knows? One thing for sure is that Russian-speaking women are the answers to many Western men's prayers.

Romer Cherubim

UK

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Boycott Brazil: The only way to save the Amazon

Boycott Brazil: The only way to save the Amazon

The Brazilian beef you see on your table very probably comes directly from a farm carved out of the Amazon rainforest at the expense of this unique ecosystem and its inhabitants.

The international media has not picked up on this story which I have been pushing for months. And here it is. Gangs working for big business interests in Brazil, many with connections to lobbyists from (who else?) the United States of America, are systematically destroying vast swathes of the Amazon rainforest. Why? To privatize its enormous resources. This comes at the expense of the inhabitants.

Sloths fall burnt to their deaths, tapirs become living barbecues, baby marmosets cling to their mothers, terrified, as both plunge to the Gates of Hell, an inferno burning below. Indigenous people are being massacred by gangs of savages wielding rifles and machetes, they are mown down with impunity, including children "so that they won't grow up". They are being burnt out of their homes because big business interests want to grab the mineral wealth of the Amazon and to create space for massive soybean farms and cattle ranches.

President Jair Bolsonaro (pronounced Ja-IR, not "jare" as many western outlets call him) said his government is the one that fights crime and nepotism. Interesting, practically the first thing he did was nominate his son as Ambassador in Washington and as for the arsonists lighting all these fires, why did he only react three weeks later when the international community woke up to what was happening (something I pointed out before the fires started)?

And why are there almost double the amount of fires this year compared to last? Why are the arsonists getting away with impunity? Maybe we can find the answers in some of the declarations from Jair Bolsonaro himself over the years, analyze his attitude towards the indigenous peoples and draw some conclusions.

"It's a pity that the Brazilian cavalry was not as efficient as the American cavalry, which exterminated the Indians" (1998)

"The Indians do not speak our language, they don't have money, they don't have culture. They are native peoples. How do they get 13% of the national territory?" (2015)

"There is no indigenous land where there are no minerals. Gold, tin and magnesium are in these lands, especially in Amazonia, the richest area in the world. I don't enter this thing of defending land for Indians" (2015)

"[Indigenous reservations] suffocate agrobusiness. In Brazil you cannot decrease one square metre of indigenous land" (2015)

"In 2019 we are going to cancel the (indigenous reservation) Raposa Serra do Sol. We are going to give rifles and weapons to all the farmers" (2016)

"There is not going to be one centimetre marked out for indigenous reservations or for quilombolas" (2017)

"You can be sure that if I get there (to the Presidency) there will be no money for NGOs. If it's up to me, every citizen will have a firearm at home. There will not be one centimetre adjudicated for indigenous reservations or quilombolas" (2017). Remember Bolsonaro blamed the NGOs for the fires (probably one of the most ridiculous things to have dropped out of his mouth).

"If I get to assume (the Presidency) there will be not one more centimetre for indigenous lands" (2018)

"If I am elected I am going to cut FUNAI (National Foundation of the Indians) with a scythe. A scythe to its neck. There is no other way. It is not useful any more" (2018)

If we can add to these snippets into the mindset of Jair Messias Bolsonaro, the champion of Brazil's Three Bs lobbies (Bói - bull; bíblia - bible; bala - bullet) some other declarations from this oracle of utter wisdom we can draw some more conclusions. Let us see:

"The error of the dictatorship was to torture and not to kill" (2006 and 2018)

"I am in favor of torture" (1999)

"I am in favor, yes, of a dictatorship" (1999)

"[The police officer] enters, solves the problem and if he kills 10, 15 or 20, with 10 or 30 shots for each one, he has to receive an award, and not be sued" (2018)

"I would never rape you because you don't deserve it" (to women, 2003 and 2014)

Gays: "For me it's death. I say more: I prefer that he dies in an accident than coming here with a guy with a moustache. For me he will have died anyway" (2011)

And so on and so forth. I finish with the words of Amazonwatch (link below) in February of this year and let my readers form their own conclusion.

"Emboldened by the institutional assault upon indigenous rights being waged by the regime of Jair Bolsonaro, rural mafias are organizing an unprecedented wave of land invasions and attacks on native territories and communities. As Brazil's indigenous agency FUNAI is systematically dismantled, with its mandate to title and monitor indigenous lands handed to agribusiness interests and religious zealots, vast Amazonian forests are becoming increasingly vulnerable to exploitation."

The first step towards the selling off and destruction of the Amazon to big business interests in Brazil and its bedmaster in Washington was the illegal coup against President Dilma Rousseff, followed by throwing ex-President Lula into jail without a proper due legal process, paving the way for a clique of self-interested political sharks to stop the social programs, cut medical aid, cut social assistance and see Brazil once again slide back into a species of country without definition. A bluff. Under Lula Brazil had gained a middle class, it had gained respect on the world stage. Under Bolsonaro, it has gone back three decades to some ridiculous banana republic crawling with injustice and seeing millions of people living in misery, demoralized, depressed and demotivated.

This time round they are attacking the Amazon and its peoples to get their hands on its resources. The Brazilian beef on your table is on your table at the expense of countless trees, animals and indigenous people's livelihoods.

Boycott Brazil, do not buy Brazilian goods. 789-790 is the Brazilian barcode identification number.

Amazonwatch

https://amazonwatch.org/news/2019/0220-brazils-indigenous-peoples-suffer-wave-of-invasions-and-attacks

Photo 1: Por Palácio do Planalto from Brasilia, Brasil - 28/06/2019 Reunião Paralela dos Líderes do G20, sobre Economia Digital, CC BY 2.0, https://ift.tt/2UdPRS3

Photo 2: The author in 2018

Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey

Twitter: @TimothyBHinchey

timothy.hinchey@gmail.com

Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey works in the area of teaching, consultancy, coaching, translation, revision of texts, copy-writing and journalism. Director and Chief Editor of the Portuguese version of Pravda.Ru since 2002, and now Co-Editor of the English version, he contributes regularly to several other publications in Portuguese and English. He has worked in the printed and online media, in daily, weekly, monthly and yearly magazines and newspapers. A firm believer in multilateralism as a political approach and multiculturalism as a means to bring people and peoples together, he is Official Media Partner of UN Women, fighting for gender equality and Media Partner with Humane Society International, promoting animal rights. His hobbies include sports, in which he takes a keen interest, traveling, networking to protect the rights of LGBTQI communities and victims of gender violence, and cataloging disappearing languages, cultures and traditions around the world. A keen cook, he enjoys trying out different cuisines and regards cooking and sharing as a means to understand cultures and bring people together.

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New Russian MC-21 passenger aircraft debuts at MAKS-2019 air show

Russia's state-of-the-art narrow-body passenger aircraft MC-21 took part in the flight program of the MAKS-2019 air show in the town of Zhukovsky near Moscow. The flight lasted for about five minutes, with presidents of Russia and Turkey, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan watching. Putin and Erdogan took part in the opening ceremony of the air show.

Source: Wikipedia

It was the first time, when the new airliner demonstrated its beauty in the sky to the eyes of the general public. MAKS-2019 will demonstrate three MC-21 aircraft, one of them with interior design. The first test flight of the aircraft was held in 2017; the serial production of the MC-21 is to begin in 2021.

Aeroflot will become the main operator of the new aircraft. The airline has already signed a contract for the supply of 50 of these aircraft with another contract for 35 more aircraft under development.

Russia has been working on the MC-21 for more than ten years. Only one version of this mid-range narrow-body airliner is being developed - the MC-21-300 with a capacity of 211 seats in the two-class layout. The Irkut Corporation created the aircraft in cooperation with many foreign companies. In 2018, the company faced difficulties with the deliveries of composite materials because of sanctions. Large elongated composite wings reduce fuel consumption, thereby increasing the economic efficiency of the aircraft.

The USA imposed sanctions on JSC Aerocomposite (part of the United Aircraft Corporation, UAC) and some other companies related to the same industry profile in the fall of 2018. Foreign suppliers (Hexcel (USA) and Toray Industries (Japan)) thus stopped selling composite raw materials to two Russian companies. As a result, Irkut Corporation had to localize the production of components and systems of the aircraft. The level of localization is expected to reach 97% by 2020, and the aircraft will not depend on foreign supplies. The total cost of the project until 2025 is estimated at 437 billion rubles. On July 22, 2019, the head of Rostec, Sergei Chemezov, asked President Vladimir Putin for another 300 billion rubles for the financial recovery of all UAC companies to implement the MC-21 project and other programs of the Russian aviation industry.

The Sukhoi SuperJet 100, Airbus A350 900 and Embraer E195 are also to be demonstrated as part of the flight program of the MAKS-2019 air show. As for military aviation, one will be able to see  the fifth-generation fighter Su-57, the latest MiG-35 of 4 ++ generation, modern combat aircraft Su-35S, Su-34, the Be-200 amphibious aircraft. For the first time, naval aviation pilots of the Russian Aerospace Forces will present the program "Air combat with elements of super-maneuverability." The pilots will fly two Su-30SM fighters for the program.

MAKS-2019 will also showcase the model of the Russian-Chinese wide-body long-range CR929 aircraft. Visitors will be able to see the cockpit, as well as elements of the first, business and economy class cabins.

Foreign aircraft manufacturers will demonstrate in Russia the short-haul airliner Embraer E-195E2 in the Tech Lion livery, the Pilatus PC-24 business jet, and the light-engine Piper M500 aircraft. The Airbus A350-900, which was previously demonstrated at MAKS air shows, will be presented this year with new Airbus Connected Experience solutions. The solutions are designed to raise the level of passenger comfort and improve their interaction with the crew.

The fifth-generation Russian fighter aircraft Sukhoi Su-57 will be presented for the first time both in the static and in the flight program. The Ilyushin Il-112VE light military transport aircraft will be another new model of military aircraft.

The convertible Il-78M-90A air tanker, more than 160 modern models of military equipment and latest high-precision aviation weapons will be shown at MAKS-2019 as well.

The range of products manufactured by Russian Helicopters will be widely represented too. Visitors will be able to take a look at the world's heaviest Mi-26T2V helicopter, the Mi-38T transport assault helicopter, Mi-171A2 and Mi-17V-5 medium-sized helicopters, Mi-24P and Mi-35M transport-combat helicopters, combat reconnaissance and Ka-52 Alligator assault chopper, light helicopters Ansat and Ka-226T. Ka-52K and the export version of the "Night Hunter" - Mi-28NE will be on display on the ground.

Russia's Almaz-Antey aerospace defense company will showcase full-scale models of vehicles of the Tor anti-aircraft missile system and a new system for countering unmanned aerial vehicles. The company will also show the S-400 Triumph and Antei-2500 long-range systems, the Viking and Vityaz medium-range systems, and other products.

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USA wants more socialism while Russia wants cruel capitalism

How does the Hispanic population change the USA? Why don't people call Donald Trump's direct line to complain about the condition of roads and public utility services? How does the USA solve these problems and what Russia can learn from the USA at this point?

Also read: Americans have racism under their skin

Rustem Safronov, an international journalist and correspondent for the Sputnik news agency in Washington, talked about these and other issues in an interview with Pravda.Ru

"Rustem, to which extent are the Latinos in the USA different from other groups of the population? To which extent are they isolated?"

"This is a very interesting question. When I found myself in California for the first time in 1990, I did not know English, but I knew Spanish. I could manage with my knowledge of Spanish just fine for a very long time, until I learned some English. Even if you call an organization nowadays, whether it is a clinic, a government agency - everywhere you will be offered an option to speak Spanish: "If you want to speak Spanish, press 2."

"The integration of Latin American people is very strong in the USA. First of all, they are geographical neighbours. With all their imperial arrogance, the Americans still have certain kinship under their skin. They have the same feeling even in relation to Cuba, although the political hostility against the Cubans is strong. The Americans have always thought that the Cubans broke away from the US by chance, that they still belong to the West and that they never belonged to the Soviets.

"The educated part of the US population has never been in solidarity with the official line of hostility against Cuba. The people in the US have always been opposed to the embargo against Cuba. Even now they understand that Cuba is a slightly different system, but the people there are the same. One does not notice such attitude in relation to the peoples of Eurasia. The most popular foreign language for studying in the United States is Spanish, because it has practical value."

"Is there any sort of integration, or are the Latinos building their own America?

"I think there is integration. The US becomes increasingly friendly to the Hispanic population as the share of this part of the population continuously grows. The country already produces universal personas, such as, for example, Ricky Martin, or Jennifer Lopez. They are largely North American phenomena, rather than Latin American ones."

"Do you think Russia could learn something from their system?"

"Our reformers wanted to transfer their model to Russia. They still want to make Russia become a copy of America. But all this, in general, is expressed only in the desire to switch everything to the paid basis, to reduce social benefits, etc., - to make the system cruel.

"Bernard Sanders has long been saying that this system needs to move towards socialization. Yet, Russia still tries to imitate the American model by cutting the number of state-funded places at universities, creating as many paid medical services as possible, etc.

"This is not suitable for Russia. I would take something completely different from America, for example, their local government system known as the crime watch community. We had had some of this system in the past, when there is a group of people who watch law and order in their neighbourhood."

"Is there communication between common people and the US authorities?  In Russia, the government is trying to prove what there is such communication, but in reality one can never reach them."

"They communicate with people regularly, they hold press conferences. Nowadays one can do many things online, and people can reach the authorities indeed. This system works, but there are problems too. For example, the subway system in Washington suffers from chronic underfunding. In Russia, people would revolt, if they had to wait for a train for 30 minutes. In Russia, people are used to the metro working like a clock."

Interview conducted by Lyuba Lulko (Stepushova)

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