Surprise! - Belarus will deploy Russian S-300 missiles near the Polish border.

Surprise! - Belarus will deploy Russian S-300 missiles near the Polish border. (politnavigator).[GoogleTranslate].

Defense Minister of Belarus Andrei Ravkov said that Belarus received the Russian missile systems S-300 and will be located in Brest, Grodno and Vitebsk regions, respectively, at the borders of Poland and the Baltic countries.

This was reported by "Polish Radio".

Head of the Belarusian Defense Ministry also said that Minsk is negotiating to obtain from the new Russian air defense systems S-400.

General Ravkov added that his country considers the potential threat on its borders stay of NATO troops. He also noted that, to date, no country in the world is a potential opponent of Belarus.

The military said that Belarus will cooperate with NATO, and it does not prevent the strategic relationship with the Russian Federation.

As reported by "PolitNavigator" Warsaw previously stated about the need to be placed on Polish territory heavy weapons because of the "threat of the aggressive actions of Russia" in the region. And today, in Poland were carried out exercises NATO Response Force.

Video - Ukrainian drone confirmed concentration of Russian troops in Lugansk. 63 tanks detected in 2 hours

Video - Ukrainian drone confirmed concentration of Russian troops in Lugansk. 63 tanks detected in 2 hours.(Lugansk).[GoogleTranslated].

Intelligence unit of Ukrainian Army Regiment “Dnipro-1″ published a video recorded by the drone that was flying over Lugansk.

In 2 hours flight they confirmed concentration of Russian troops on the East of Ukraine. They checked several bases and found 63 tanks, 32 APCs and 96 military trucks. Read the full story here.

 

Polish MP Jacek Saryusz-Wolski: 'Russia may use Belarus for troops deployment'.

Polish MP Jacek Saryusz-Wolski: 'Russia may use Belarus for troops deployment'. (charter97).

Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, a Polish MEP and deputy chairman of the Christian Democrats group, criticised Russia at the Wroclaw Global Forum. According to him, it's time to consider the issue of delivering weapons to Ukraine as the Minsk agreement is not implemented.

The politician spoke to Radio Svaboda about his vision of Russian-Belarusian relations.

– Does Russia really take Lukashenka as an ally? Is it ready to stake on him?

– We can hardly say that free and democratic elections would help Lukashenka. It would be a problem for him to overcome the 50% barrier if the media were free. To be short, free Belarus would most probably elect a new president. Russia is not going to allow free elections in Belarus, so you cannot believe in anything it says.

– Lukashenka began to use pro-Ukrainian rhetoric more than a year ago. But the recent military exercises on the border with Poland and Ukraine do not match his words. Does it mean that the leash on which Putin keeps Lukashenka became shorter?

– We need to look at what he does rather than what he says. He speaks to confuse both Moscow and the West. We shouldn't take his meanders seriously. He swings from side to side.

The facts are that Belarus has the common military space with Russia. The fact is the military exercises on the border. The fact is that if Belarus is needed to deploy Russian troops, it will be done. Unlike the West, I don't feel optimism about his or his propaganda's statements.

Belarus yesterday started large-scale command and staff military exercises in the Gomel region close to the Ukrainian border. The drills will last until June 18. It is planned to practice the phased strengthening of the state border in the southern direction. The drills involve the separate infantry company of the territorial troops consisting of reservists as well as territorial border guard and interior units of the Gomel region.

Belarus will Require The 'unemployed' To Pay a fine of $250 For Not Working .

Belarus will Require The 'unemployed' To Pay a fine of $250 For Not Working. (rferl).

A new measure adopted by Belarus says people who work less than half the year will have to pay the government for their idleness.

The Belarusian parliament on May 6 passed the proposal by authoritarian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka. It requires work-capable people who work less than 183 days a year to pay an annual fine of $250. 

Disabled people, pensioners, and people with young children are exempt.

A statement from the parliament, where the measure passed by a vote of 100-2, said "it's necessary to stimulate citizens who are capable of work and ensure they fulfill their constitutional obligation to take part in financing state expenditures."


Labor Minister Marianna Shchetkina told the parliament the measure would be temporary. Hmmmm.....Memories of the good old USSR come back .

Belarus: President Lukashenko pans Jewish Minsk governor for not taking Jews 'under control as he had ordered.

Belarus: President Lukashenko pans Jewish Minsk governor for not taking Jews 'under control as he had ordered. (JP).

Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko criticized on Wednesday a Jewish regional governor in Belarus for not taking the country's Jewish population "under control" as he had ordered.

In a state-of-the-nation address, Lukashenko expressed annoyance that a popular online publication, which has a Jewish director, had criticized his decree imposing a tax on people who worked fewer than 183 days a year.

Addressing the Minsk region governor Semyon Shapiro by name, Lukashenko said the head of the tut.by website, Yuri Zisser, was "not behaving correctly".

"I told you a year ago to take all the Jews of Belarus under control," said the president, a leader who often ruffles feathers with his impromptu comments.

A 2009 census said Jews made up 0.14 percent of Belarus's 9.5 million population.

Returning to the theme at the end of a three-hour summary of the economy and Belarus's international standing, he praised the Jewish population for its role in resistance to Nazi occupation during World War Two, when an estimated 800,000 local Jews died.

He went on to describe the Jews as being "white boned" meaning they did not like to do menial work. "They don't like to get their hands dirty or fight, but they did get their hands dirty with us!"

Zisser, whose online information outlet is the most powerful in Belarus, said he was puzzled by Lukashenko's remarks.

"Officials often express various opinions to us, often offensive ones. ... But we can not distort information to suit somebody's wishes," he told Reuters.

The head of a Belarussian Jewish association, Borys Herzen, played down the importance of Lukashenko's comments.

"Lukashenko is an emotional person and often does not express himself very elegantly ... In fact we do not see here in Belarus signs of any anti-Semitism," Herzen told Reuters.

Lukashenko caused a stir in 2007 when he said that Jews had turned the city of Bobruisk "into a pigsty". He subsequently sent a delegation to Israel on a damage-limitation trip.

From Belorussian Svoboda comes this: Belorussians commenting on Luka's 'Antisemitic rant:

"When Hitler did not like Jews", - Lukashenka's statements about Grodno.


Man: "I do not know what these words can lead. But, in my opinion, it is a complete humiliation of the nation. How can you even some examples of such talk? It smells of how fascism, and to talk about this publicly is unrealistic. And yet - how can such talk president, and he gets away with it .... "

Man: "It was a very strange statement, even a bit antisemitic. And these statements were tapped during the entire message, and then another Lukashenko them back ... "

Man: "I do wonder, how can you say it's in a sense, a violation of the Constitution. The main thing that a man was normal, for me it does not matter what nationality he was. When Hitler also did not like the Jews, and left what happened. I just hope that these times will never come. "

Man: "My first reaction was - shock. I do not understand how you can say such a thing. I still can not imagine what kind of a turn from what it is repelled and why ... "

Man: "The phrase about the Jews - it is a departure from the typical printed text, he did not understand what I said. Imagine the Jews control ... In my opinion, he was not in this list. But to those who sat in the audience liked it, and that's scary. What he says - we are used to everything. But that room with three higher educations so responsive - it's scary. "

Man: "The Jewish question - it's a complex question, and what it means to" control "? What are they, non-automatic people that they need to be controlled, and therefore do not trust? And if they do good towards Belarus - is good, well, why is control? I even thought it does not fit. " Hmmmm.....Having visited Belarus a number of times, i can say i did experience antisemitic behavior from Belorussians more then once.

Video - Belorussian Independence Day parade: WWII military weaponry and new.... Iskander missiles in Minsk.

Video - Belorussian Independence Day parade: WWII military weaponry and new.... Iskander missiles in Minsk. More here from Belsat.

Belarusian Leader Lukashenko Likens US Exceptionalism Talk to Nazi Rhetoric.

Belarusian Leader Lukashenko Likens US Exceptionalism Talk to Nazi Rhetoric.(RN).

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko lashed out at the United States in an interview aired Wednesday, likening US President Barack Obama’s talk of American exceptionalism to Nazi rhetoric.

The remarks came in response to a televised appeal last month by Obama calling for US citizens to support the prospect of military intervention in Syria in the name of what he described as American exceptionalism.
Lukashenko said the sentiment was “dangerous and counterproductive.”

“There are 300 million people [in the United States]. They, as it once was in Germany, are beginning to sense that theirs is a special race, special blood, special exceptionalism, and they should restore world order and bring everybody to their standards,” Lukashenko told Kazakhstan television channel 24KZ.

Lukashenko also referenced Obama’s racial background in his criticism of the US leader.

“Only very recently, black people in America were slaves, and now today they’re claiming some kind of exceptionalism,” he said. “I never thought that a man coming out of poverty would be able to pursue such rhetoric in the world.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin also slammed the idea of US exceptionalism last month in a New York Times op-ed piece in which he described the concept as “extremely dangerous,” arguing that God had created everyone equal.
Lukashenko is no stranger to impolitic and off-color remarks.
Last year, he hit out at criticism from German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, who had called Lukashenko “Europe’s last dictator,” by remarking that he would “rather be a dictator than gay."
Westerwelle is his country’s first openly gay minister.

Putin, Lukashenko and 'mini luka' Arrive for Last Stage of Military Exercise.

The last Sovjet era Dictator who threatened to use nuclear waepons on the West at the fall of the USSR.

Putin, Lukashenko and 'mini luka' Arrive for Last Stage of Military Exercise.(RN).

(Kaliningrad region), September 26 – Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko, arrived on Thursday at a testing range in western Russia for the final stage of an extensive exercise conducted by the two countries’ militaries.
The heads of state arrived at the Khmelevka range on Russia’s Baltic Sea coast aboard the same helicopter. The six-day exercise, code-named Zapad (West), has been held every two years since 2009.
Khmelevka is 12 kilometers (seven miles) north of Baltiisk, the main base of Russia’s Baltic Fleet.
The presidents were welcomed at the helicopter pad by the chief of Russia’s General Staff, Valery Gerasimov. Lukashenko was accompanied by his youngest son, Nikolai, dressed in military uniform.
This year’s exercise has about 12,000 Russian and 200 Belarusian servicemen, 180 combat vehicles, including 10 tanks, as well as 10 ships from Russia’s Baltic Fleet and 40 aircraft.

Putin's 'Attack dog' ....The Russian version of ASSAD.

China Builds EU Beachhead With $5 Billion City in Belarus.

China Builds EU Beachhead With $5 Billion City in Belarus.(Bloomberg).China is building an entire city in the forests near the Belarusian capital Minsk to create a manufacturing springboard between the European Union and Russia.

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko allotted an area 40 percent larger than Manhattan around Minsk’s international airport for the $5 billion development, which will include enough housing to accommodate 155,000 people, according to Chinese and Belarusian officials.

Lukashenko, who’s led his former Soviet state of 9.5 million for two decades, is turning to China to help revive a $60 billion economy that’s needed $6.5 billion of bailouts from the International Monetary Fund and Russia since 2009. The hub will put Chinese exporters within 170 miles of EU members Poland and Lithuania and give them tax-free entry into Russia and Kazakhstan, which share a customs union. It will also let them draw from a workforce that’s 99.6 percent literate and makes $560 a month on average, half the Polish wage.

“This is a unique project,” Gong Jianwei, China’s ambassador to Belarus, said on state television May 17, after the project won regulatory approval. “Nobody will be able to build anything like this industrial park anywhere else in Europe anymore. The infrastructure is so powerful.”

The “modern city on the Eurasian continent,” as it’s called in marketing documents, will be built around the M1 highway that links Moscow and Berlin via Belarus and Poland. A speed-rail network will tie the airport to the center of the city, which will be powered by a $10 billion nuclear plant, Belarus’s first, which Russia agreed to finance and build by 2018. The first stage of the park is scheduled to be completed by 2020, with the second stage taking another 10 years.Hmmmm......Good luck on this one, i'm sure the Russian Mob is already breaking out the champagne.Read the full story here.

Russia to deploy fighter jets, anti-aircraft missiles at new Belarus base.

'I'm not a Dictator' Lukashenko and son

Russia to deploy fighter jets, anti-aircraft missiles at new Belarus base.(RT).“We are starting to look into the plan to create a Russian air force base in Belarus with fighter jets. We hope that by 2015 an air force regiment will be based here,” Sergey Shoigu announced.

The Russian defense chief added that a Russian air force HQ in Belarus will be set up by 2014 and test flights by one wing of fighter jets will start in the same year.

Russia will also deliver four battalions of S-300 surface-to-air missiles to Belarus in 2014, Shoigu told the press.

The Defense Minister emphasized that in future the Russian Federation would contribute to the Belarus defense capabilities. Belarus has signed an agreement with Russia on creating a joint anti-aircraft defense as did Russia’s eastern neighbor and ally, Kazakhstan.

Currently there are two Russian military installations in Belarus, one the radar station that is part of the missile strike warning system, and the other a communications hub that provides links to Russian nuclear submarines on combat duty.

Russia also has bases in Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia and Tajikistan. However, some of these installations are currently under threat, though mostly for financial reasons.

Last year Russia and Kyrgyzstan restarted a row when the country’s authorities attempted to raise the rent for Russia's base there, and the situation was only resolved after President Putin visited Bishkek.Hmmmm......The Last dictator of the Sovjet era gets a 'facelift' from Putin.Read the full story here.

Russia’s top union representative urges Belarus to Abolish Timber Industry ‘Serfdom’.

Russia’s top union representative urges Belarus to Abolish Timber Industry ‘Serfdom’.(RN).Russia’s top union representative on Friday urged Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to allow timber industry workers to quit their job – a right they lost earlier this month.
The ban on resignation is similar to “slavery or serfdom,” Mikhail Shmakov, who heads the pro-Kremlin Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia, said in an open letter to Lukashenko.
The ban also violates the 1957 international convention abolishing forced labor to which Belarus is a signatory, the letter noted, also comparing the restriction to Myanmar’s internationally criticized labor laws, and urged him to cancel it.
Lukashenko’s office had not commented as of evening Friday.
The Belarusian president issued a decree in early December prohibiting timber industry workers from resigning without their superiors’ express permission.
The ban is set to last until the modernization program for the industry wraps up in 2013, Lukashenko said. This program already missed its initial deadline of 2012.
The ban affects some 13,000 people, Afn.by local news website reported last week.
Lukashenko also ordered timber enterprises to raise wages 100 percent to $400-500 a month, Belta.by news agency reported in late November.
“There’ll be even more talk about dictatorship, bear in mind, with them saying that we ban people from quitting,” Lukashenko warned at the time, apparently anticipating the Myanmar comparison.
The Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia, established in 1990, claims to have 25 million members. It is part of the All-Russia People’s Front, created by President Vladimir Putin ahead of the presidential race of 2011.Hmmmm.....The 'Last Sovjet era Dictator'.Read the full story here.

Lukashenko Europe's Last Dictator Planning A Return To Serfdom?

Lukashenko Europe's Last Dictator Planning A Return To Serfdom?(Rferl). Despite a five-year modernization program, Belarus's wood-processing industry just can't hang onto its skilled workers.
Promises of higher wages and more attractive working conditions aren't doing the trick as workers continue to seek more lucrative employment in neighboring Russia.
So President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has come up with a different idea: forced labor.
"A decree is being prepared that says that until the end of the planned modernization and reconstruction of [wood-processing] enterprises [in 2015], workers are forbidden from quitting their jobs," Lukashenka announced during a visit to the Barysaudrev wood-processing plant in Barysau, a bleak industrial city about 40 kilometers northeast of Minsk, on November 30. "

Workers cannot quit their jobs without the agreement and permission of the management of the enterprise."
He added that workers who left their jobs despite the warning would be sentenced to compulsory labor and returned to the production line.
The presidential decree codifying the threat was issued on December 7.
​​ "The only novelty here from the legal standpoint is the concept of forced employment, which is completely illegal," Syarhey Antusevich, deputy chairman of the Belarus Congress of Democratic Labor Unions, said. "I think that maybe the leader of the country just went off on a tangent, as he is sometimes prone to do, and decided to solve some serious, real problems in this way."
Stephen Benedict, the director of human and trade union rights at the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) in Brussels, said Lukashenka's proposal violates the conventions of the UN's International Labor Organization (ILO), of which Belarus is a member.
"We think this is a direct and absolute violation of the most fundamental principles and rights of workers," Benedict said. "There are ILO conventions that very clearly lay these rights out, and Mr. Lukashenka is completely denying these rights and ignoring the advice that he has repeatedly received [from international organizations]."
At the end of November, Lukashenka declared 2013 to be "The Year of Frugality" in Belarus. Among other goals, the initiative aims to enhance "economic security" through "raising labor productivity" and "the rational use of resources."
"The measures outlined by the Year of Frugality will be aimed at raising the frugality awareness of every person, encouraging frugal attitudes in and out of their workstations," the decree states.Read the full story here.

Hot Metal: Belarusian Steel Workers Strip For Company Calendar.

Hot Metal: Belarusian Steel Workers Strip For Company Calendar.(Rferl).By Coilin O'Connor.Now in its third year, the Byelorussian Steel Works (BMZ) corporate calendar has quickly become a firm company tradition. Following a trail that was first blazed nearly five decades ago by the Pirelli tire manufacturer, BMZ's yearly chronicle features racy (but demure) pictures of attractive females. Whereas last year's publication focused on emphasizing the role of women in the steel industry by placing its scantily clad subjects in various metallurgical settings, the 2013 calendar is a much more ambitious undertaking. With a few bold strokes of an airbrush, it deftly draws our attention to a link that the company suggests is often overlooked. "Characterized by flexibility and natural appeal," BMZ's website explains, "the beauty of the female body and the beauty of molten metal are to a certain extent related terms." Warming to its theme, the BMZ publicity machine then goes on to hammer the point home: Like metal, a woman is made up of the most unexpected and sometimes conflicting properties. If, at first glance, steel seems solid and firm, it can change under certain conditions, becoming soft and pliable. The opposite is the case when it comes to the fairer sex: regardless of their profession or circumstances, they can seem delicate and fragile, but behind this external weakness there is usually hidden confidence, courage, and a steel will. Unlike its Pirelli counterpart, which publishes pictures of catwalk superstars such as Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford, BMZ's calendar uses the company's own homegrown talent. With more than 12,000 employees, the Zhlobin-based steelmaker had plenty of choice when it came to selecting its best-looking, most photogenic female applicants for the glossy publication. Besides having "beauty and courage," these brave naked ladies also had to show that "tenderness and kindness lived in their heart."Read the full story here.

Israel sends Mossad to Minsk to defend Dagan, from 'loose lipped' Ahmadinejad 'Buddy' Lukashenko.

Israel sends Mossad to Minsk to defend Dagan, from 'loose lipped' Ahmadinejad 'Buddy' Lukashenko.(JPost).Former Mossad chief and Yesh Sikuy director Meir Dagan is facing the threat of assassination by an Iranian hit squad as he recovers from a liver transplant in Belarus, The Sunday Times reported. 
After Belarus President, Alexander Lukashenko, revealed last week that Meir Dagan was recovering in a hospital in Minsk, Israeli officials immediately increased his protection, The Times reported. It added that sources indicated Iran, or its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah, would try to kill him.Lukashenko said that surgeons in several countries, including the US, Germany and Sweden, had refused to operate on the patient after learning of his former career as a spymaster – a claim that was later denied by Dagan’s associates. “He traveled to Belarus because of the donor,” Dagan’s friend and former police commander Uri Bar-Lev told The Jerusalem Post last week.
Asked if the disclosure formed a security problem for Dagan, Bar-Lev denied that it did. In spite of this denial, The Times quoted an Israeli source as testifying to the contrary: “We’re very worried. Both Iran and Hezbollah are well aware of Dagan’s location and we believe some of their operators might be on their way to Minsk.” According to the report, by Sunday, Israel had sent enough agents to Minsk “not only to defend the hospital but the entire city”, The Times quoted the source as saying. “We’ll bring him back home safely.” Dagan retired from the IDF as a major-general in 1995 and was appointed head of the Mossad in 2002. His tenure was extended twice.Hmmmm........From ' kolkhoze director ....to President for Life'....The last sovjet era Dictator.Read the full story here.

'Europe's Last Dictator' Lukashenko's police arrest audience at screening of movie 'Europe's Last Dictator'.

'Europe's Last Dictator' Lukashenko's police arrest audience at screening of movie 'Europe's Last Dictator'.(TheWeek).AN ENTIRE cinema audience has been arrested in Minsk during a screening of a documentary that explores Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko's violent treatment of protesters. Police entered the Free Theatre five minutes into a screening of Europe's Last Dictator and ordered the 20 members of the audience to stand against the wall, before arresting them, reports Telegraf. The audience was taken to a local police department, fingerprinted and interrogated and when they were released three hours later, some claimed their personal belongings had been damaged. One member of the audience said his memory card had been removed from his camera and another alleged his computer was broken. The 55-minute film, which won best documentary at the London Independent Film Festival last week, exposes the violent police crackdown of a peaceful protest against a rigged presidential election in 2010. Directed by Juan Passarelli and Mathew Charles - and narrated by Joanna Lumley - the documentary recounts how riot police stormed Independence Square, beating and arresting over 700 protesters who had rallied to contest an 80 per cent election victory for Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994.Footage from the film shows women on the ground being kicked by police. "Human beings don't behave like that. Even animals don't behave like that," says a woman in the documentary whose brother was imprisoned following the protest.Former US Secretary of State Condaleeza Rice has called the country "the last true remaining dictatorship in the heart of Europe".Hmmmm........From Kolkhoz director to President for life.Read the full story here.

Russia abandons Belarussian Opposition in the claws of last soviet era dictator Lukashenko.

Russia abandons Belarussian Opposition in the claws of last soviet era dictator Lukashenko.(RN).Russia will not allow into the country Belarusian opposition figures who are banned from leaving Belarus but could use Russia as transit hub to flee abroad, Belta news agency quoted FSB Border Service head Vladimir Pronichev as saying on Friday. Pronichev told the border guard committee of the Union State of Russia and Belarus that he would not allow a situation where Belarusian citizens with no right to leave that country travelled to Russia and then went on to third countries, Belta reported. Direct confirmation of the move from official Russian sources could not be obtained. Pronichev said that if the border service officials were told to detain a person, they would do it both on Russian and Belarus territories. Belarus authorities said in late March that Minsk would introduce an “iron curtain” on the country's opposition, following enactment of EU-backed sanctions against Belarusian officials. Belarus has already banned twelve opposition activists and human rights advocates from leaving the country in the past few months.Hmmm.....The 'Good old days' can't wait to see Putin reinstate the Gulags.Read the full story here.

Belarus executions draw anger against Lukashenko

        Belarussian Dictator Lukashenko and his heir and son, 'business partner' of Ahmadinejad.

Belarus executions draw anger against Lukashenko.(HD).Two men convicted of carrying out a deadly subway bombing last year in Belarus’ capital have been executed, drawing strong condemnation from activists and the European Union.
State television reported late on March17 that both Vladislav Kovalyov and Dmitry Konovalov had been put to death, which in Belarus is done with a shot to the back of the head. Human rights activists condemned the hasty executions, saying they deprived society of the opportunity to learn the truth.
The men were convicted in November of planting a bomb in Minsk’s busiest subway station that killed 15 people and wounded more than 300 in April.
Konovalov had acknowledged his guilt. Investigators said Kovalyov was aware of the plans to bomb the subway, but he insisted he did not take part and pleaded not guilty. Their defense lawyers said the evidence presented in court was circumstantial and inconclusive.
Critics of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko accused his government of staging the bombing to divert attention from the worst economic crisis in the country’s post-Soviet history.
Belarusians angered by the executions came to lay flowers or light candles outside the subway station on yesterday.Flowers also were laid outside Belarus’ embassy in Moscow, where someone had placed a sign with photographs of the two men and the words: “They were killed on Lukashenko’s whim.” EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton is “aware of the terrible crimes that these two men were accused of and her thoughts are with the victims and their families,” her spokesman said in a statement.”At the same time, the high representative notes that the two accused were not accorded due process, including the right to defend themselves.” Lukashenko last week ignored appeals from Ashton and others for clemency.Hmmmm.......From Kolchoz director to President for life.The Devil does take care of his own.Is this why they love the uniform look?Read the full story here.