'Real Change' - US, Canada, Ukraine reject UN resolution condemning glorification of Nazism.

'Real Change' - US, Canada, Ukraine reject UN resolution condemning glorification of Nazism. (RT).

A UN General Assembly committee has passed a resolution “combating glorification of Nazism,” with 126 countries voicing their support. 

Meanwhile, the US, Ukraine and Canada voted “against,” raising eyebrows. Moscow has called the decision “regrettable.”

The resolution, which was initially proposed by Russia and co-authored by 52 states, including Brazil, China, India, and Kazakhstan, deals with measures to fight the glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism, and other practices that facilitate the escalation of modern forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and intolerance.

It condemns any denial of the Holocaust, as well as any form of glorification of the Nazi movement, including honoring former members of the Waffen SS organization. The document also expresses concern over the installation of memorials related to Nazism and “unending attempts to desecrate or destroy the monuments to those who fought against Nazism during World War II.”

A total of 126 member-states supported the resolution, while four countries — the US, Canada, Palau, and Ukraine – voted against it. Another 53 countries, including the European Union nations and NATO members abstained from the vote.

The four votes against the resolution raised questions, with Russia stating that it finds the decision of those countries to reject the resolution “bewildering” and “regrettable.”  Hmmmm........I wonder if the holocaust denial was the breaking point?

U.K. Neo Nazis plan to destroy Israeli flags and burn Talmud at London's Golders Green rally.

U.K. Neo Nazi Extremists plan to destroy Israeli flags and burn Talmud at London's Golders Green rally. (JC).

Neo-Nazis plan to destroy Israeli flags during a protest at the heart of the Jewish community next month.

Organisers of the July 4 demonstration in Golders Green, north-west London, have also urged supporters to attend a secret burning of the Talmud ahead of the event.

Joshua Bonehill-Paine, a white supremacist activist, wrote on his website on Monday that a “private ceremony” would be held to burn the religious texts “in recognition of its racist anti-white teachings”.

He said his group of nationalist demonstrators would hold further protests against the Jewish community in Finchley, Stamford Hill and other locations later in the summer.

The decision to destroy Israeli flags would be “in solidarity with those oppressed by the illegal state of Israel”, Bonehill-Paine wrote. “Activists are welcome to bring Israeli flags on July 4 as we will be destroying them in an act of opposition to Israel.

“This will be a show of solidarity by English people who recognise that Israel is a corrupt state which is responsible for horrific war crimes.

“To avoid prosecution we will not be burning flags, we will dismember them by hand.”

Jewish community representatives have repeatedly said they are not intimidated by the planned extremist demonstration.

Speaking at a meeting on Sunday attended by the police, Shomrim and delegates from more than 40 local synagogues, Community Security Trust representatives said they were “concerned and repelled” by the plans but not afraid.

CST has previously described Bonehill-Paine as “essentially a provocateur who has not shown the capacity to mobilise large numbers of people to attend far-right events”.

U.S. supported Ukraine cancels social benefits for former NAZI concentration camps prisoners & Russian medal recipients.

U.S. supported Ukraine cancels social benefits for former concentration camps prisoners and Russian medal recipients. (Tass).

Ukraine has stopped paying out welfare payments for pensioners, World War Two veterans, people with disabilities, liquidators of the Chernobyl disaster beginning with Monday, since the law of December 28, 2014, on stabilizing the financial condition of the state has come into force.

It affects practically all social security beneficiaries, without defining the mechanisms for providing targeted assistance to low-income groups.

Kiev has eliminated transport, healthcare, utilities and financial benefits for former prisoners of Nazi concentration camps and recipients of some Soviet-era orders and titles. 

Compensations to families with children living in the areas contaminated by radiation from the Chernobyl accident will be no longer paid either.

Ukraine’s parliamentary opposition believes that the Prosecutor General’s Office should launch an investigation against Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk who actively promoted the law on the abolition of privileges.

2014 - The Year Nazism Broke the Internet and Nazi Aesthetics Popped Up Everywhere.

In worst idea ever, Zara sells shirt similar to that of Nazi camp inmates. On Israeli site too http://t.co/Kqs3PfXq31 pic.twitter.com/PRuEfn6Wsr
— Oren Kessler (@OrenKessler) August 27, 2014

2014 - The Year Hitler Broke the Internet and Nazi Aesthetics Popped Up Everywhere. (Forward). By Anna Goldenberg.

Remember the public outcry in June, when a teenager from Alabama took a selfie in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp and posted it on Twitter?

Or the swastika ring for sale by a third-party vendor at Sears but that was removed after multiple complaints?

This year has seen its share of seemingly ridiculous headlines that might make some of us wonder whether Nazi symbols have entered mainstream culture.

While there is no question that some of these incidents are seriously worrisome (such as the poster depicting the “Arbeit macht frei” [“Work makes (you) free”] sign from the Dachau concentration camp, sold at Wal-Mart’s online store, again by an independent seller), there were plenty of others in cases where the right reaction is much more difficult to figure out.

Just think of the photo from a press conference in Israel last July that shows Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, with the German chancellor, Angela Merkel. Netanyahu’s finger casts a shadow on Merkel’s upper lip, making it appear as if she had a toothbrush mustache just like, yes, you guessed it, another German leader: Adolf Hitler. Sort of funny, right? Or maybe a bit unfair to Merkel, the first German chancellor to visit Dachau? Are we allowed to laugh about Hitler memes?

There is a growing cultural desire to laugh at Nazis. According to Gavriel D. Rosenfeld, a history professor at Fairfield University and author of the forthcoming book “Hi Hitler! How the Nazi Past Is Being Normalized in Contemporary Culture,” this makes sense: On the one hand, laughing at Hitler, Nazis and perhaps even the Holocaust renders the perpetrators and the atrocities they committed more tangible and makes them appear less omnipotent; on the other hand, however, it trivializes the horrors the regime committed.

Here are some “Nazi moments” that made headlines in the past year — and some thoughts on how to treat them. Read and see the full story here.

Video - Ukrainian Military aircraft fire missiles at apartment block in E. Ukraine, 4 dead.

Ukrainian Military aircraft fire missiles at apartment block in E. Ukraine, 4 dead. (RT).

Kiev’s Air Force fired three missiles to destroy a multifamily apartment building in the city of Snezhnoe, eastern Donetsk Region. At least four civilians have been pronounced dead as rescue teams continue to clear out debris of the collapsed building.

Assault aircraft fired four missiles at approximately 6:27am, when most of the citizens of Snezhnoe were fast asleep. One of the missiles hit the local tax administration building, which was empty at that early hour. The other three hit a five-story residential building at the 14 Lenin Street, reports RIA Novosti.

Two sections of the long apartment building collapsed completely. Local residents and emergency response teams are manually clearing debris in search for survivors. Altogether 12 families lost their dwellings.
The local hospital confirmed to the agency that there are multiple injured in the city. Hmmm....Soon Putin will quote Israel as an example and slam Ukraine.Read the full story here.

Vladimir Putin To delegation of rabbis "Goebbels was a talented man,"

Vladimir Putin To delegation of rabbis "Goebbels was a talented man," HT: Forward.

Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked senior rabbis from Israel and Europe for what he called their help in Russia’s fight against the revival of Nazism.

Putin made the statement on Wednesday during a meeting in the Russian capital with over one dozen prominent rabbis, including Berel Lazar, a chief rabbi of Moscow, and Yitzchak Yosef and Israel Meir Lau, Israel’s Sephardic chief rabbi and former Ashkenazi chief rabbi, respectively.

“Of particular concern is the revival of Nazi ideas,” Putin told the delegation of rabbis, which included also Binyominn Jacobs, the chief inter-provincial rabbi of the Netherlands, and David Moshe Lieberman of Antwerp.

“I want to thank the Jewish community, non-governmental organizations that are both active and courageous; we see it in today’s world – how a struggle is being uncompromisingly waged against all manifestations of the Nazi ideology and any attempts to revive it,” said Putin.

A Kremlin transcript of Putin’s address at the meeting did not specify where he saw Nazism being revived.

In the past, Putin has called the leaders of the revolution that toppled the regime of Ukrainian former president Viktor Yanukovych “Nazis” and “neo-Nazis,” and cited what he said was their anti-Semitism to justify Russia’s actions in Ukraine since March, when it annexed Crimea from its western neighbor.

Many Ukrainian Jewish leaders and the country’s government have dismissed these assertions, saying that the claims about anti-Semitism are being made for political purposes.

Putin also spoke out against Holocaust deniers, calling them “not only stupid, but also shameless.” 

He added: “Unfortunately, just like 70 years ago, this shamelessness often achieves its purposes. After all, [Joseph] Goebbels had said, ‘The more improbable the lie, the faster people believe it.’ And it worked out; he was a talented man,” Putin said in reference to Nazi Germany’s propaganda chef.

The meeting on Wednesday took place ahead of a Holocaust commemoration event scheduled for Thursday in the Crimean city of Sevastopol, which is organized by the local Jewish community in memory of over 4,000 Jews killed by German troops in July 1942.

The annual commemoration has taken place there since 1992, but this week will be the first time it has been held since the Russian annexation.

Noting that the Kremlin has shown an interest in Holocaust commemorations for the past 15 years, Rabbi Boruch Gorin, a senior aide to Lazar and chair of Moscow’s Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center, added that

“There’s no denying that President Putin and the Kremlin want to demonstrate that anti-Semitism is not accepted and that everything is alright with the Jews there. And we don’t dispute that. We do our work. If it is used for diplomacy or propaganda — depends whom you ask – we’re not necessarily opposed. We think Jews in Crimea need to feel at ease and safe and stable, and prefer to stay out of politics.”

German Neo-Nazi Lands Spot on European Rights Group

German Neo-Nazi Lands Spot on European Rights Group. HT: Forward.

European Jewish leaders slammed the appointment of a German neo-Nazi lawmaker to the European Parliament’s civil liberties committee.

Udo Voigt, the former head of the far-right National Democratic Party, was named this week to the parliamentary committee for Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs. Voigt, 62, has lauded Adolf Hitler and is notorious for his relativization of the Holocaust.

“It is surreal and the ultimate insult to the Jews of Europe and to the European Union itself,” Moshe Kantor, head of the Brussels-based European Jewish Congress, said in a statement Tuesday.

He urged all lawmakers “to refuse to allow this man to participate in the workings of the committee.”

Kantor added that none of this would have happened if Germany had banned the NPD, which has some 7,000 members nationwide.

Voigt gained his seat in the European Parliament in May when the NDP won about 1 percent of the German popular vote — the new threshold for admission to the body.

World Jewish Congress CEO Robert Singer said “it was already bad enough that Voigt was able to get elected” after Germany removed the 5 percent vote threshold for international elections this year. His appointment to the committee is “disgraceful and unacceptable,” Singer said, joining calls for the EU to establish a higher threshold to prevent extremist fringe groups from gaining a foothold. The next such election is scheduled for 2019.

“The idea of a neo-Nazi as a guardian of European human rights is sickening,” said Stephan Kramer, newly appointed director of the American Jewish Committee’s European Office on Anti-Semitism, based in Brussels and Berlin.

Just prior to his election, Voigt received a one-year suspended sentence in Germany for incitement to hate. Hmmmm......."Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose".

30k Times 'NAZI' tweets during USA-Germany World Cup Match.

The word “Nazi” was tweeted 30,209 times (3.4 per SECOND) during the U.S.-Germany #WorldCup game. #USA #GER pic.twitter.com/NjNaAJPzNc
— Drew Guarini (@DrewG7) June 27, 2014

30k Times 'NAZI' tweets during USA-Germany World Cup Match. (IBTimes).


Thursday's USA-Germany World Cup showdown may have been dubbed "World War III" by some fans, but it appears that thousands of fans are still fighting World War II. 

The match, which ended in a 2-1 loss for the Americans (who still advanced out of the so-called Group of Death because Portugal simultaneously beat Ghana), roused some pretty ugly nods to the past on Twitter, according to a graph shared by user @DrewG7.

The chart, seen above, shows that Twitter users used the word "Nazi" or "Nazis" in tweets and retweets 30,209 times over the course of match, which lasted less than two hours.Read the full story here.

Time: This Indonesian Nazi Video Is One of the Worst Pieces of Political Campaigning Ever

Time: This Indonesian Nazi Video Is One of the Worst Pieces of Political Campaigning Ever


"Indonesia is an example of religious tolerance" Barack Obama

Video - Marine Le Pen: EU robbed us of all liberties, we should fight to get them back.

Video - Marine Le Pen: EU robbed us of all liberties, we should fight to get them back.Full Transcript here. Elections to the European Parliament have brought groundbreaking changes in the structure of EU's most powerful body: right wing parties along with Eurosceptics, an outsiders just a few years ago, have now taken the political scene. Front Nacional party in France gets the majority - signifying that people want change; the same with other nations. But what now? Is the European change of course inevitable? What will happen to the Union itself? Today, we meet again with our special guest, the leader of the Front Nacional party. Marine Le Pen is on Sophie&Co today.

Jean-Marie Le Pen Joked About Putting Jewish Singer in 'Oven' - Luke 6:45

Jean-Marie Le Pen Joked About Putting Jewish Singer in 'Oven' - Luke 6:45. HT: Forward.

An apparent anti-Semitic pun by former far-right French leader Jean-Marie Le Pen has spurred calls for his prosecution. Le Pen, the founder of the National Front party and currently a legislator, said in a video posted on the party website that “next time we will put him in an oven” when asked about French singer Patrick Bruel’s criticisms of the party. Bruel is Jewish.

On Sunday, Le Pen denied any racist overtones in the remarks, which were removed from the website over the weekend, though he reportedly has used similar wordplay in the past.

SOS Racisme said it would file a complaint “in the coming days” against Le Pen, according to the French news agency AFP. The Movement Against Racism and for Friendship Between Peoples reportedly also said it will lodge a complaint and called Le Pen “an authentic anti-Semite,” according to AFP.

Le Pen, whose daughter Marine now heads the party, has a history of convictions for “inciting racial hatred” and Holocaust denial. He once described the gas chambers in Nazi death camps as a historical “detail.”

On Sunday, European Jewish Congress President Moshe Kantor called on the European Union to strip Le Pen of his parliamentary immunity and for French authorities to charge him with incitement.

“Le Pen has unmasked the true face of the far-Right of Europe days after their electoral successes in the European Parliament,” Kantor said in a statement. “While some have tried to whitewash and mainstream these parties, Le Pen’s comments demonstrate that they still stand on foundations of hatred, anti-Semitism and xenophobia.

“It is time for the European Union and European nations to raise the bar to what constitutes acceptable speech by anyone, Member of Parliament or not,” he said. Hmmm........'for his mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart' Luke 6:45.

 Update: 

 Jewish leaders call for Le Pen to be stripped of his immunity as an MEP

Video - gunmen of the pro-Moscow 'Vostok' (East) battalion near Donetsk airport, Monday

#Ukraine Video: gunmen of the pro-Moscow 'Vostok' (East) battalion near Donetsk airport, Monday https://t.co/wBwnTvMUKY

— Hans de Vreij (@hdevreij) May 27, 2014

Video - Donetsk, Truck filled with corpses being unloaded at morgue.

Donetsk mayor: 40 killed in Donetsk fighting on May 26 - Live updates

Donetsk mayor: 40 killed in Donetsk fighting on May 26.(RBTH).

The fighting in Donetsk on May 26 between a Ukrainian law-enforcement contingent and the militia left 40 people dead, among them two civilians, Donetsk Mayor Alexander Lukyanchenko said.

Lukyanchenko did not say to which conflicting party the fatalities belonged, according to the online newspaper Ostrov.

"Thirty-one victims injured in the fighting are in hospitals, among then four civilians," he said.

Ukrainian law enforcement units attacked the Donetsk militia at the Donetsk airport on May 26 after the militia refused to lay down arms and to surrender. The Donetsk railway terminal came under fire later in the day, leaving two people dead and a child wounded, according to reports.

Donetsk mayor urges city residents to stay indoors

Locals said #Donetsk and #Horlivka morgues are full, Horlivka separatist leader Bezler ordered to blow up city morgue to prevent ID of dead.

— Ukraine Reporter (@StateOfUkraine) May 27, 2014

Spokesman for Ukraine 'ATO', Vladyslav Seleznoiv, has said Donetsk 'rebels' must 'surrender or be killed', today, http://t.co/QMiU5b2xtl

— GrahamWPhillips (@GrahamWP_UK) May 27, 2014

OSCE Special Monitoring Mission: Contact lost with Donetsk-based team KYIV, 27 May 2014 - On Monday evening at... http://t.co/DYYJ1VL5aT
— MaidanOnline (@MaidanOnline) May 27, 2014

BREAKING @OSCE lost contact w/one of their teams in #Donetsk obl-4ppl on the team were on patrolling trip;contact lost ystd.night @v_solohub
— Euromaidan PR (@EuromaidanPR) May 27, 2014

#Sloviansk bakery comes under artillery fire by Ukrainian military http://t.co/WvJ8ClfahD #Slaviansk #Ukraine #cdnpoli
— Rock Solid Politics (@BradCabana) May 27, 2014

RT @RT_com URGENT: Shooting resumes near #Donetsk airport, helicopters,fighter jets deployed - @Ruptly's #cdnpoli http://t.co/Ld9GutB3rU
— Rock Solid Politics (@BradCabana) May 27, 2014

RIA says group of OSCE observers in Donetsk has not been reachable since last night
— bruce springnote (@BSpringnote) May 27, 2014

RT @mfa_russia Vladimir Putin:Punitive army operation in southeastern #Ukraine should be stopped immediately http://t.co/1NgQxiV8UK #cdnpoli
— Rock Solid Politics (@BradCabana) May 27, 2014

RT @homo_viator #BREAKING #Donetsk miners announce ultimatum to Kiev: will stop working if #Ukraine does not end punitive operation #cdnpoli
— Rock Solid Politics (@BradCabana) May 27, 2014

A gruesome photo of a truckload of dead rebel fighters from the #Donetsk airport |EMPR Photo @InfoResist #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/zlPEIBVLp8
— Euromaidan PR (@EuromaidanPR) May 27, 2014

Lavrov: it's too early to talk about Poroshenko's visit to Moscow, especially since the operation in South-East is still raging.
— PaulaSlier_RT (@PaulaSlier_RT) May 27, 2014

If the #Ukraine army controls #Donetsk airport why is there explosions and shooting happening there? The army fighting itself?
— Rock Solid Politics (@BradCabana) May 27, 2014

Владимир Путин призвал прекратить карательную операцию на востоке Украины http://t.co/hjBBrBTRNY pic.twitter.com/jD6Oy1BOcq
— RT на русском (@RT_russian) May 27, 2014

RT @wavetossed 2m Fighting has begun at #Donetsk airport and the Pesok area of town with automatic weapons fire. #Ukraine #cdnpoli
— Rock Solid Politics (@BradCabana) May 27, 2014

Reports of a consignment of military volunteers from Russia arriving at Lugansk http://t.co/vS30yr9Fv1 via @leontev84
— GrahamWPhillips (@GrahamWP_UK) May 27, 2014

Armed gunmen with support from police are guarding #Donetsk morgue from journalists. pic.twitter.com/WTDyWeIic2
— Petr Shelomovskiy (@shelomovskiy) May 27, 2014

PHOTO: Wreckage of truck attacked by #Kiev forces - reports up to 35 died http://t.co/1w0HeQgrUI #Donetsk #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/leNH7pTPza
— RT (@RT_com) May 27, 2014

Separatists in #Luhansk #Ukraine said they are sending men/arms to help #Donetsk separatists. http://t.co/OVtsVsAEaZ
— Ukraine Reporter (@StateOfUkraine) May 27, 2014

Map of towns/cities in east #Ukraine controlled by pro-#Russia forces or in which they have been seen via @RFERL pic.twitter.com/v1eLvtUtsw
— Ukraine Reporter (@StateOfUkraine) May 27, 2014

This happens if you want to provoke Ukrainians pic.twitter.com/J8aHgCQueu
— Андрій (@AndrijUKR) May 27, 2014

Breaking - Ukrainian troops bombed the international airport of Donetsk.

Донецкий аэропорт - Фото pic.twitter.com/BAIEoYGn0K
— Антимайдан (@anti_maydan) May 26, 2014

АТО в аэропорту Донецка издалека pic.twitter.com/X2tNxTF2V1
— Новости Донбасса (@novostidnua) May 26, 2014

Breaking - Ukrainian troops bombed the international airport of Donetsk. (RT).[Google Translate].

#Ukraine #Donetsk live stream from area of combat operations near airport http://t.co/EPBHnF71c2
— Ukraine Reporter (@StateOfUkraine) May 26, 2014

another live stream from #Donetsk #Ukraine http://t.co/CA142UOsnB

— Ukraine Reporter (@StateOfUkraine) May 26, 2014

Above International Airport. Sergei Prokofiev Donetsk column of smoke rises. According to preliminary information, lit one of the terminals. About this representatives of Donetsk's Republic reported to Twitter.

Earlier it was reported that the Ukrainian troops bombed the airport in Donetsk, in the sky raised ground attack aircraft

Ukrainian troops bombed the international airport named after Sergei Prokofiev Donetsk, lifted into the sky attack aircraft, say representatives proclaimed the People's Republic in Donetsk Twitter.

"Ukrainian invaders cause air strikes by the international airport of Donetsk . Attack aircraft involved. In the sky above the Donetsk military planes and helicopters. In strikes against Donetsk airport involved three helicopters and two aircraft, "- said in a statement the government DNR.

Earlier news agencies provided information that at the airport Donetsk shootings and explosions.

Representatives of the People's Republic of Donetsk report that Ukrainian troops bombed the airport from the air. According to the official twitter DNI, over the airport visible black smoke, apparently lit one of the terminals.

"Ukrainian occupiers applied missile and bomb strikes on the international airport of Donetsk. Attack aircraft involved. In the sky over the Donetsk warplanes and helicopters. In strikes against Donetsk airport involved three helicopters and two aircraft "- quoted message DNI RIA Novosti .

"Representatives of the DNR at three o'clock went to communicate with the airport, to negotiate. Runs is that those called to the aid of four military helicopters. Now these helicopters then sit down, then fly to the airport area. Military asked to remove all civilians. Circling fighter, his goals are not clear, some time was completely absent mobile communications, "- said the representative on the phone RT Staff militia Donbass.

In the night from 25 to 26 May, the DNR demanded from the Ukrainian military, are at the airport to leave. According to representatives of the militia detachment consisted of about 200 people.

ITAR-TASS news agency reported, citing a militia that rises above the runway column of smoke from the airport was heard intensive shooting, including a large-caliber weapons.

 Оригинал статьи: http://russian.rt.com/article/33653#ixzz32ovNkrhp
Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream

In the same time #Ukraine troops are taking control of #Donetsk train station area which is a few kilometers from the airport

— Ukraine Reporter (@StateOfUkraine) May 26, 2014

RT @StateOfUkraine #Donetsk: #Ukraine SU aircrafts are bombing airport, 2 heavy explosions.Helicopters are turning to the 3d circle #cdnpoli

— Rock Solid Politics (@BradCabana) May 26, 2014

#Donetsk Airport: the location of this live stream http://t.co/IBkOQRqPUZ pic.twitter.com/CAtLx2dHfi

— Hans de Vreij (@hdevreij) May 26, 2014

#Donetsk airport and train station captured by Donetsk self-defence forces from #Ukraine army. #cdnpoli

— Rock Solid Politics (@BradCabana) May 26, 2014

#Lavrov: It would be a grave mistake to resume the active phase of that “anti-terrorist operation” - @mfa_russia #Ukraine @MaximEristavi

— Euromaidan PR (@EuromaidanPR) May 26, 2014

Pictures of insurgents at the Donetsk this afternoon. Note the headwear here http://t.co/2DaSQo9aqe and http://t.co/MyBMN7Z7Qn

— Nataliya Vasilyeva (@NatVasilyevaAP) May 26, 2014

No doubts #lifenews and #RT are able to explain why #Donetsk miners wear chechen caps (pyas). #StopRussianPropaganda pic.twitter.com/eEHspAMJ8T

— Ukraine Unofficial (@WithDeepConcern) May 26, 2014

Reporters are fleeing from a fight after #Ukraine paratroopers parachuted at #Donetsk airport pic.twitter.com/9GInt5yZcO

— Ukraine Unofficial (@WithDeepConcern) May 26, 2014

According to the group informing #Ukraine anti-terrorist operation there are about 200 separatists in Donetsk international airport

— Ukraine Reporter (@StateOfUkraine) May 26, 2014

UNCONFIRMED reports that 2 #Ukraine helicopters shot down over #Donetsk #cdnpoli

— Rock Solid Politics (@BradCabana) May 26, 2014

#Donetsk airport LIVE: Ukr fighter-jets-above,terrorists-behind-trees point of view http://t.co/uF53YchNml #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/r2K5OGEggB
— Ukrainian Updates (@Ukroblogger) May 26, 2014

Бои в окрестностях аэропорта в Донецке продолжаются - ПРЯМАЯ ТРАНСЛЯЦИЯ http://t.co/0UQQQvUZN8
— RT на русском (@RT_russian) May 26, 2014

Besides 4 fighter aircraft and 2 helicopters strafing Donetsk airport, word now of an airmobile operation bringing in troops to clean up
— bruce springnote (@BSpringnote) May 26, 2014

#Донецк - бои в аэропорту 16.30 мск 26.05.2014 - Видео http://t.co/YxxXfUt3hV

— Антимайдан (@anti_maydan) May 26, 2014

URGENT: 2 reported injured as Ukrainian troops resume airstrikes on #Donetsk Airport - report http://t.co/u30HD6H57J pic.twitter.com/FaDzbwnQ7c
— RT (@RT_com) May 26, 2014

Right here in #donetsk pic.twitter.com/Sk00hqUWk4
— Petr Shelomovskiy (@shelomovskiy) May 26, 2014

Sukhoi&MiG missiles are working in #Donetsk aiport: in Piski (entrance to Donetsk from airport) separatists' checkpoint destroyed completely
— Ukraine Reporter (@StateOfUkraine) May 26, 2014

Really difficult to tell who is on the offensive here. Oh there goes a few big bangs.
— Roland Oliphant (@RolandOliphant) May 26, 2014

Terrorists going after mass transit today. 1st the airport now preliminary report of train station and bus station being attacked
— bruce springnote (@BSpringnote) May 26, 2014

Украинская армия бомбит международный аэропорт Донецка (ВИДЕО) http://t.co/03JUi2pbiu pic.twitter.com/fZJJnYuoIQ
— RT на русском (@RT_russian) May 26, 2014

https://t.co/NbeXTQZ6iN #Donetsk:Locals watch #Ukrainian fighter jets fly over as #Russian terrorists attack airport pic.twitter.com/u4fBlwJUF4
— Ukrainian Updates (@Ukroblogger) May 26, 2014

Apparently Ukrainian army issued an ultimatum to separatist forces to surrender in #Donetsk
— Petr Shelomovskiy (@shelomovskiy) May 26, 2014

Sounds of heavy gunfire and explosions coming from Metro store in #Donetsk airport pic.twitter.com/XO9zgxVOgB
— Petr Shelomovskiy (@shelomovskiy) May 26, 2014

AP: On Monday in Donetsk, a major eastern city, heavy shelling was heard from or near the airport after a standoff in the morning.
— Nataliya Vasilyeva (@NatVasilyevaAP) May 26, 2014

В бою над аэропортом Донецка сбит вертолёт - ПРЯМАЯ ТРАНСЛЯЦИЯ http://t.co/mS0AzX6xn4 pic.twitter.com/WpVtBX7Lio
— RT на русском (@RT_russian) May 26, 2014

DONETSK, Ukraine (AP) — Official: Ukrainian military launches air strikes against gunmen who seized Donetsk airport.
— Nataliya Vasilyeva (@NatVasilyevaAP) May 26, 2014

Eyewitness in #Donetsk says helicopters tearing up the airport. Also saying place was occupied by Chechens @BSpringnote | EMPR News
— Euromaidan PR (@EuromaidanPR) May 26, 2014

https://t.co/035CrZE6WQ #Donetsk: Ukr Air Force asking #Russian terrorists to plz leave #Ukraine alone. #Russia #ATO pic.twitter.com/Yaip1lwgD6
— Ukrainian Updates (@Ukroblogger) May 26, 2014

Вооруженные террористы прибыли в аэропорт для атаки на украинскую армию @ostro_v pic.twitter.com/dPPxPL3It5
— Новости Донбасса (@novostidnua) May 26, 2014

https://t.co/kg7NTFJrFE #Ukrainian fighters jets, choppers scrambled as #Russian terrorists attack #Donetsk airport pic.twitter.com/r1nFQarEyT
— Ukrainian Updates (@Ukroblogger) May 26, 2014

BREAKING Shootout at #Donetsk airport area http://t.co/kl4nuJqUuB | EMPR News
— Euromaidan PR (@EuromaidanPR) May 26, 2014

Terrorist on rooftop Donetsk airport pic.twitter.com/6iEGHRu6b5
— bruce springnote (@BSpringnote) May 26, 2014

МОЛНИЯ В ходе вооруженного столкновения вблизи аэропорта в Донецке был сбит военный вертолет http://t.co/jiPTurZjPI
— СРОЧНЫЕ НОВОСТИ (@molnia_me) May 26, 2014

Someone flanked someone. Fight appears to have spread into streets south of airport north of train station. Gunfire heard from both sides.
— Roland Oliphant (@RolandOliphant) May 26, 2014

Уже более двух часов продолжается бой возле аэропорта в Донецке pic.twitter.com/662FQ4xePj
— LIFENEWS (@lifenews_ru) May 26, 2014

Russia will respond to increased NATO activity near border, says top general.

Russia will respond to increased NATO activity near border, says top general.(Taz).

Russia's top general said on Friday that Moscow would retaliate against increased NATO activity near its border as tensions with the western alliance over Ukraine escalate, Reuters reported.

Since Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea region, NATO has moved to reassure its nervous eastern European allies. Ships and planes have been temporarily deployed to their countries and military exercises in the region stepped up.

"NATO's military groupings in the Baltic states, Poland and Romania are being built up, as well as the military presence of the bloc in the Baltic, Mediterranean and Black Sea," General Valery Gerasimov, the chief of general staff of the Russian armed forces, told a defense conference in Moscow.

"The intensity, the operational and combat readiness of the alliance's troops is being increased near the Russian border. In these circumstances ... we have to take retaliatory measures."

Russia has long been wary of the expansion of the military bloc of 28 nations into eastern Europe, with President Vladimir Putin saying last month that his annexation of Crimea was partly influenced by NATO enlargement.

The crisis in Ukraine - which holds a presidential election on Sunday seen as crucial for its fragile democracy - has left ties between Russia and the Western alliance at their lowest ebb since the Cold War.

NATO last month suspended all practical cooperation with Russia to protest its absorption of Crimea.
But despite tension over Ukraine, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said earlier this month that the bloc does not expect to base large numbers of new combat troops in eastern Europe.

Related:

Russia delivers first batch of some 100 "T-90C" tanks to Azerbaijan

"CHANGE" - Europe's future Face might look totally different.

"CHANGE" - Europe's future Face might look totally different.HT: Zerohedge.

Mario Draghi may have lied to Zero Hedge when saying there was no European "Plan B" (or Z), but he was right when he said that there has been a "vast amount of political capital that has been invested into the Euro." There is one problem: that political capital (like virtually every other form of capital in Europe) is evaporating at an unprecedented pace.

The following map from Votewatch may be in French, but what needs no translation is what Europe can expect following the 2014 elections for European Parliament which start today and continue until the 25.

In short - with the biggest projected "gainer" in the election, and a forecast winner in places like the UK, France, Denmark, Poland, Finland and others, being v, projected to gain 56 parliamentary seats to a record 177 (at the expense of popular European parties), the surge in the "revulsion and loathing" at the concept of a "united Europe" is unprecedented.

At this rate one more election and the Eurosceptics will be the single largest political block in a "United" Europe. We hope even hard line eurocrats can see the problem with that outcome.

Files Uncovered: Nazi Veterans Created Illegal Army in Post WWII Germany.

Files Uncovered: Nazi Veterans Created Illegal Army in Post WWII Germany. HT: Spiegel.

Newly discovered documents show that in the years after World War II, former members of the Nazi Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS formed a secret army to protect the country from the Soviets.

The illegal project could have sparked a major scandal at the time.

For nearly six decades, the 321-page file lay unnoticed in the archives of the BND, Germany's foreign intelligence agency -- but now its contents have revealed a new chapter of German postwar history that is as spectacular as it is mysterious. 

The previously secret documents reveal the existence of a coalition of approximately 2,000 former officers -- veterans of the Nazi-era Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS -- who decided to put together an army in postwar Germany in 1949.

They made their preparations without a mandate from the German government, without the knowledge of the parliament and, the documents show, by circumventing Allied occupation forces. Read the full story here.

"RESET" - Back to 'The Good Old Days' - US starts countrywide nuclear drill after similar war games in Russia.

"RESET" - Back to 'The Good Old Days' - US starts countrywide nuclear drill after similar war games in Russia. (RT).

The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is a long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber built to carry nuclear weapons.

The Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit, also known as the Stealth Bomber, is an American strategic bomber, designed for penetrating dense anti-aircraft defenses that can drop up to sixteen 1,100 kg B83 nuclear bombs.

The exercise will be conducted from May 12-16 and is set “to deter and detect strategic attacks against the US and its allies,” the Strategic Command said in a statement.

“This exercise provides unique training opportunities to incorporate the most current technology and techniques in support of our mission. Continued focus and investment in our strategic capabilities allow US Stratcom to deter, dissuade, and defeat current and future threats to the U.S. and our allies.” said Admiral Cecil Haney, head of Strategic Command.

StratCom is the US’s nuclear command and is responsible for space operations, global strike, global missile defense; and global command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and combating weapons of mass destruction.

Though the timing of the exercise was declared as “unrelated to real-world events,” it does come on the heels of the recent war games in Russia. Announced in November 2013, military drills on countering nuclear strikes were overseen by President Vladimir Putin ahead of the May 9 celebrations dedicated to victory in World War II.

Contrary to the openness of the Russian war games, the US Strategic Command released very few details about the upcoming exercise.

Relations between Moscow and Washington have worsened significantly over the situation in Ukraine. The US continues to endorse and support a military operation by Kiev’s coup-installed government against federalization supporters in the southeast of the country.


Last week, NATO said it may permanently station additional troops in Eastern Europe as a defensive measure against Moscow. Russia views this recent buildup of NATO forces as a provocation and counterproductive in the struggle to deescalate tensions in Ukraine. Hmmmm......Flashback: Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin has sent NATO a rather unusual New Year's card... picturing Santa alongside a Russian inter-continental ballistic missile.

Ukraine- Russia Crisis - Live Updates.

Ukraine - Crimea Crisis Live updates from MFS Twitter   , Interpreter , Kyevpost and RT RT Russian - Euromaidan in English. ITAR TASS.Voice of Russia. Svoboda Rferl Guardian Censornet BBC

A fact-check site created to control disinformation in #Russian media due to the massive Russian propaganda -http://stopfake.org/

 regular updates :

#Ukraine National Guard came to Mangush, #Mariupol region, took all ballots without battle, referendum is finished there

— Ukraine Reporter (@StateOfUkraine) May 11, 2014

In #Russia whole column of armored vehicles, painted in the colors of the @UN http://t.co/mRccY7vM7m |EMPR News #russiainvadesukraine

— Euromaidan PR (@EuromaidanPR) May 11, 2014

Check @EvgenyFeldman's E Ukraine referendum pics if you haven't. Warm fuzzies see folks helped to make 'right' choice http://t.co/yNHP9I45R6
— Alec Luhn (@ASLuhn) May 11, 2014

National Security Head Parubi says that if Russia approves referendum results and acts "aggressively" Ukraine will defend its territory
— bruce springnote (@BSpringnote) May 11, 2014

#Ukraine National Guard, which took # Krasnoarmeysk (conf.) https://t.co/GDHrgZLcPY arrives in Mariupol. Separatists hastily finish voting
— Ukraine Reporter (@StateOfUkraine) May 11, 2014

In #Mariupol, activists are saying that the city is expected to be stormed by pro-Ukrainian forces. Some polling stations were evacuated.
— PaulaSlier_RT (@PaulaSlier_RT) May 11, 2014

Russian media reports that pro-Ukrainian forces took control over four schools in #Krasnoarmeisk of #Donetsk region where people were voting
— PaulaSlier_RT (@PaulaSlier_RT) May 11, 2014

Dugin, expansionist behind Putin: "the maximum task for Russia is the ‘Finlandization’ of all of Europe": http://t.co/qL3G9LIi8H Good piece
— Natalia Melnychuk (@pravolivo) May 11, 2014

Donetsk people governor (Gubaryov): after the referendum the Donetsk and Lugansk regions will merge into one.
— PaulaSlier_RT (@PaulaSlier_RT) May 11, 2014

https://t.co/wrGch1Yxy6 #Krasnoarmiysk,#Donetsk Obl:#Ukrainian unit fr #Dnipropetrovsk wants to have a say #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/y2oF9vUwl5
— Ukrainian Updates (@Ukroblogger) May 11, 2014

Ukraine separatist says will form own state bodies, military after vote http://t.co/n3mfMMYkAu via @reuters
— Constantin Gurdgiev (@GTCost) May 11, 2014

"@gbazov: #DONETSK #KRASNOARMEYSK - Video of pro-Kiev militia, APCs and checkpoint outside Krasnoarmeysk. https://t.co/w2zyAOZse8" #cdnpoli
— Rock Solid Politics (@BradCabana) May 11, 2014

Men stopping referendum in Krasnoarmeisk from volunteer Dnieper Battalion which reportedly incl Right Sector @crusoes pic.twitter.com/Y7AO83Z3C8
— Alec Luhn (@ASLuhn) May 11, 2014

Eastern #Ukraine decides: Long queues to vote in #referendum for autonomy from #Kiev (VIDEO) http://t.co/jrkcSllFZd
— RT (@RT_com) May 11, 2014

Ukraine Liveblog: Armed Men Stop Poll in Krasnoarmeysk. http://t.co/ccwbX49Elu
— The Interpreter (@Interpreter_Mag) May 11, 2014

act. Head of #Ukraine Presidential Administration: 'Russian armored vehicles on Ukrainian border painted in colors of UN peacekeeping forces
— Ukraine Reporter (@StateOfUkraine) May 11, 2014

URGENT: #Kiev troops seize 4 polling stations in Krasnoarmeysk, Donetsk Region – activists http://t.co/ciwKzeLMJv
— RT (@RT_com) May 11, 2014

Current turnout: #Luhansk Obl=75% #Donetsk Obl=60% (lifenews.ru).Will the 83.1%-89.5% gold standard be met?#Ukraine pic.twitter.com/l7AaGMoQop
— Ukrainian Updates (@Ukroblogger) May 11, 2014

Pro-#autonomy activists took Oleg Lyashko,#RadicalParty presidential candidate, as a hostage in #Mariupol outskirts acc to #Russian media
— PaulaSlier_RT (@PaulaSlier_RT) May 11, 2014

Election Commission of the #DonetskRepublic promises to announce final results of the #referendum tomorrow afternoon.
— PaulaSlier_RT (@PaulaSlier_RT) May 11, 2014

We just got information (unconfirmed) that #Ukraine forces cordoned off #Krasnoarmeysk, took its city hall and voting locations with ballots
— Ukraine Reporter (@StateOfUkraine) May 11, 2014

#Mariupol: Woman casts her vote for the #referendum pic.twitter.com/gMInnAPpEY
— PaulaSlier_RT (@PaulaSlier_RT) May 11, 2014

Same source says city council building in the town of #Krasnoarmeysk (#Donetsk rgn) was taken over by #Kiev forces. pic.twitter.com/0RRaI6RmMq
— PaulaSlier_RT (@PaulaSlier_RT) May 11, 2014

#Donetsk self-defense forces say the #Ukrainian army has blocked several roads in the region, #Russian media reports.
— PaulaSlier_RT (@PaulaSlier_RT) May 11, 2014

#Mariupol: People hold plaques showing respect for those killed in May9th demonstrations. pic.twitter.com/KxF4Q5amx0
— PaulaSlier_RT (@PaulaSlier_RT) May 11, 2014

Северодонецк - Фото pic.twitter.com/9AXzlpRxtK
— Антимайдан (@anti_maydan) May 11, 2014

#Donetsk self-defense forces say the #Ukrainian army has blocked several roads in the region, #Russian media reports.
— PaulaSlier_RT (@PaulaSlier_RT) May 11, 2014

#Russian media confirms that turnout in #Lugansk region reaches 80% whereas in #Donetsk region it reaches + than 60%.
— PaulaSlier_RT (@PaulaSlier_RT) May 11, 2014

г. Донецк . Боссе 37-я школа - Фото pic.twitter.com/3Gtcb1hZIz
— Антимайдан (@anti_maydan) May 11, 2014

Long queues at polls in #Donbass are sign of #Kiev junta's weakness/impotence even when its armed bravos succeed sometimes in stopping vote
— Assad Massad (@Prof_dhistoire) May 11, 2014

9.00 Красногоровка, Марьинский район, Донецкая область. ОШ №5 - Фото pic.twitter.com/zVqaosDacC
— Антимайдан (@anti_maydan) May 11, 2014

RT @BBCWillVernon Burnt out APC in #Mariupol. Graffiti says 'that's for #Odessa, you bitches' pic.twitter.com/rP3T4ErjPW THE MOOD #cdnpoli
— Rock Solid Politics (@BradCabana) May 11, 2014

#Mariupol: People say they saw #Turkish and #Italian observers following the #referendum development.
— PaulaSlier_RT (@PaulaSlier_RT) May 11, 2014

No sign of Ukraine army movement into #Mariupol today, as inside reports that referendum turnout could top 80% - https://t.co/Nx5ZWxHzAN
— GrahamWPhillips (@GrahamWP_UK) May 11, 2014

RT @GeonKlijsig #Ukraine's National Guard confiscates 15 thousand of ballots in #Lugansk region #cdnpoli #Ukraine http://t.co/ACuu5B7Gqb …
— Rock Solid Politics (@BradCabana) May 11, 2014

Speaking to people today in #Mariupol - they don't expect Kiev's 'Euromaidan gov' to recognise their referendum, but don't care about that.
— GrahamWPhillips (@GrahamWP_UK) May 11, 2014

Head of #Mariupol police, who had previously been kidnapped by separatists on May 9, found hanged in airport area (confir. by police source)
— Ukraine Reporter (@StateOfUkraine) May 11, 2014

Report that Presidential candidate O Lyashko taken hostage by separatists in Mariupol
— bruce springnote (@BSpringnote) May 11, 2014

Russia Deputy PM Delivers Transdniestr Petition despite Moldova Effort http://t.co/Ersqu77LqL
— bruce springnote (@BSpringnote) May 11, 2014

Central #Mariupol, and people mingle, take photos around pro-Donetsk APC - https://t.co/ARfZfd6Wfa
— GrahamWPhillips (@GrahamWP_UK) May 11, 2014

People’s governor of #Donetsk rgn told journalists that Donetsk & #Lugansk will emerge as new legal entities as a result of the #referendum.
— PaulaSlier_RT (@PaulaSlier_RT) May 11, 2014