Putin Probably Killed his Lover

Zurich| Iouri Michaelevitch, a former personnal assistant of the Russian President, was found dead last monday in his swiss appartment after some of the neighbors complained about the smell emanating from the residence. According to the city’s police departmnent, many clues collected on the site suggest that he might have been the victim of an elaborate murder plot.

“The police forces have only been able to proceed to preliminary analysis before we spotted a source of radiations on the scene and had to call a decontamination team” explains Sven Munger of the Zurich Police Department.”We can confirm that the radioactive agent is a very rare russian product named TCDD Dioxin. The clues we have collected are insufficient to pronounce a definitive conclusion, but the complexity of the of plot we have exposed greatly reduces the number of suspects.”

The victim had attracted a lot of attention from the Russian government and media in 2011 when he had written a book entitled “Я был любовник Путина” (“I was Putin’s Lover“), which was taken off the shelves before the official release, after a presidential decree. A warrant demanding the arrest of the author was also issued across Russia, leading him to file a demand of political asylum from the helvetic state.

Many sources also claim that Mr Michaelevitch had dinner with an attaché of the Russian embassy five days before his body was found, a case strangely similar to that of the former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko in 1999.

Via worldnewsdailyreport.com

Welcome to Cold War Part Duo Kiddies (Pay Attention Milennials)

(Reuters) - A Kremlin-backed journalist issued a stark warning to the United States about Moscow's nuclear capabilities on Sunday as the White House threatened sanctions over Crimea's referendum on union with Russia.

"Russia is the only country in the world that is realistically capable of turning the United States into radioactive ash," television presenter Dmitry Kiselyov said on his weekly current affairs show.

Behind him was a backdrop of a mushroom cloud following a nuclear blast.

Kiselyov was named by President Vladimir Putin in December as the head of a new state news agency whose task will be to portray Russia in the best possible light.

His remarks took a propaganda war over events in Ukraine to a new level as tensions rise in the East-West standoff over Crimea, a southern Ukrainian region which is now in Russian forces' hands and voted on Sunday on union with Russia.

Russian television showed images of ethnic Russians in Crimea dancing, singing and celebrating the referendum but followed them with accusations that Kiev's new authorities and the West have allowed ultra-nationalists to attack Russian-speakers in eastern Ukraine.

Kiev and the West blame the violence in eastern Ukraine on pro-Russian groups and say the Crimea referendum is illegitimate. The United States has warned of imminent sanctions against Moscow.

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Kiselyov is an outspoken defender of Putin and once caused outrage by saying the organs of homosexuals should not be used in transplants.

His show portrayed the Ukrainian authorities as unable to maintain law and order. Putin made a similar charge in a telephone conversation with U.S. President Barack Obama on Sunday.

Such remarks have caused concern in Kiev that Moscow might send troops to eastern Ukraine, acting on a vote in Russian parliament allowing him to use the armed forces if compatriots are deemed in need of protection in Ukraine.

As the crisis escalated, the news in Russia has taken on shades of Soviet-era propaganda, with reporters peppering reports with references to what they say was the cooperation of some Ukrainians with the Nazis in World War Two.

There is also now growing menace in some of the reports, as well as echoes of the Cold War.

Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev gifted Crimea to Ukraine in 1954, when Ukraine and Russia were both parts of the Soviet Union.

Many people in Crimea hope union with Russia will bring better living conditions and make them citizens of a country capable of asserting itself on the world stage.

Others see the referendum as a land grab by the Kremlin as Ukraine's new rulers try to move the country towards the European Union and away from Russia's sway.

Obama Picks Openly Gay Delegates For Winter Olympics In Russia; F*ck You Putin

In an apparent snub to President Vladimir Putin over recent anti-gay legislation passed in Russia, the White House delegation to the upcoming Winter Olympics in Sochi includes Billie Jean King and another openly gay athlete — and no high-level American officials.

It is a sharp departure from recent Olympics. Michelle Obama led the U.S. delegation to the London Games last year, and Vice President Joe Biden went to the Winter Olympics in Vancouver in 2010.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney talks about President Barack Obama's decision to not attend the upcoming Olympics in Russia.

President George W. Bush and then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice led the U.S. delegation to Beijing in 2008, and first lady Laura Bush led the delegation to the 2006 Winter Games in Turin, Italy.

Besides King, the tennis legend, the U.S. delegation to the opening and closing ceremonies in Sochi, the Russian resort hosting the games, will include Caitlin Cahow, an openly gay two-time Olympic hockey medalist.

“I can’t wait to get to Russia to support the American team and to be part of one of the greatest global events of our time,” King said in a statement. “I am equally proud to stand with the members of the LGBT community in support of all athletes who will be competing in Sochi and I hope these Olympic Games will indeed be a watershed moment for the universal acceptance of all people.”

Russia passed a law last year banning “homosexual propaganda” and made it illegal to “spread information about non-traditional sexual behavior” to people under age 18. Foreigners are subject to fines and can be deported.

Jay Carney, the White House press secretary, said that President Barack Obama knows that the delegation “will showcase to the world the best of America — diversity, determination and teamwork.”

Pressed by reporters on whether the president was sending a message, Carney said: “That’s not a message we would wait to send through this manner. We have been very clear. The president has been very clear that he finds it offensive, the anti-LGBT legislation in Russia, for example. We take very clear and strong stands on that issue, as well as the curtailment of civil society in Russia, as well as the harassment of those who protest corruption in Russia.”

Shawn Gaylord, advocacy counsel for the organization Human Rights First, told MSNBC on Wednesday that his group was thrilled to hear about the delegation.

“I think that was done intentionally, done to send a message of equality and respect,” he said. “And I think this delegation will be able to show what it’s like to be integrated into society, to be leaders in society.”

The U.S. delegation includes Janet Napolitano, the former Homeland Security secretary and current president of the University of California. Michael McFaul, the American ambassador to Russia, and William J. Burns, deputy secretary of state, are also in the group.

The United States is also sending Olympic speedskating champions Bonnie Blair and Eric Heiden and 1988 figure skating champion Brian Boitano.

The Sochi Olympics open Feb. 7.

VIA NBC