The Combat of Champions

Paul Richter and Brian Bennett of the Los Angeles Times argue that the Russian strongman is doing something very peculiar in modern history. He is engaging in single combat with the Leader of the Free World. Putin is tearing down one man and not as one would expect, the entire system of a rival nation state in order to gain success. They write, “Putin is using his Syria gambit to disparage Obama”.

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Putin: Do you realize what you have done?

Russian President Vladimir Putin told the U.N. on Monday that those who supported democratic revolutions in the Middle East are to blame for the rise of a globally ambitious Islamic State. --"Instead of the triumph of democracy and progress, we got violence, poverty and social disaster — and nobody cares a bit about human rights, including the right to life," Putin said through a translator. "I cannot help asking those who have forced that situation: Do you realize what you have done?"

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Vladimir Putin just fired more than 100,000 people

Vladimir Putin has fired 110,000 people. --The Russian president signed a decree two weeks ago that reduced the number of full-time employees in the interior ministry of Russia by about 10% — or 110,000 people. --Most of the cuts will be to administrative staff. It will bring the total number of employees in the agency down to just above 1 million, according to CNN Money.

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Russian spy ship visits Havana

Cuban port call comes amid Ukraine tensions and Putin's plan to expand global military presence.
(Photo: Adalberto Roque, AFP/Getty Images)

Raising the ghost of the Cold War, a Russian spy ship has docked in Cuba amid Moscow's deepening conflict with Ukraine and President Vladimir Putin's plans to extend his country's global military footprint.

The Viktor Leonov CCB-175, an armed intelligence-gathering vessel built for the Soviet navy in the late 1980s, quietly arrived Wednesday, according to news reports. Cuban media have so far not mentioned the visit, unlike previous arrivals of warships from its former close ally.

The Viktor Leonov, which also visited Havana in September 2012, was docked Thursday at a cruise ship terminal and is slated to leave Friday, a Russian embassy official told Reuters. He described the visit as "friendly." The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Read more at USA Today Read More......