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NEWS FLASH

Members Of The European Parliament Condemn Russia’s Anti-LGBT Laws | As Saint Petersburg, Russia, prepares to adopt a law banning the “propaganda of sodomy, lesbianism, bisexualism and transgenderism” to minors, Members of the European Parliament are joining nations around the world, including the U.S. and Australia, in condemning the proposed censorship. Yesterday, MEP Michael Cashman spoke out against the bills, saying that “what is wrong is the promotion of intolerance and discrimination, precisely what these repressive laws set out to achieve.” Watch it:

Sophia in ‘t Veld added that “Tchaikovsky and Constantinovich must be rolling over in their graves.”

NEWS FLASH

Australia Condemns Russia’s Anti-Gay Propaganda Bill | Australia has joined the growing international backlash against St. Petersburg, Russia’s anti-gay propaganda bill, which passed a second reading last week. The measure would impose fines of over $15,000 on groups or individuals that “promote” homosexuality and pedophilia to minors. Western Australian ALP senator Louise Pratt “co-sponsored a motion to the Australian Senate last week condemning the laws.” “I am very pleased that the Australian Government has made representations to the St Petersburg Legislative Assembly regarding Australia’s concerns about its bill to ban the promotion of homosexuality,” she said last week. “I know there are a great many people that have raised their voices in a worldwide campaign to stop these laws. They have been calling on foreign governments to raise their concerns with the St. Petersburg Legislature, just as the Australian Government has done.” The U.S. State Department has also spoken out against the bill.

NEWS FLASH

State Department Condemns Russia’s Anti-Gay Bill | The U.S. State Department has reiterated its opposition to St. Petersburg, Russia’s “anti-gay” propaganda bill, which would fine groups or individuals who “promot”e homosexuality, pedophilia, or transgenderism to minors. The bill passed a second reading earlier this week. A Department spokesperson raised concerns that the measure “would severely restrict freedoms of expression and assembly for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals, and indeed all Russians” and said, “We have called on Russian officials to safeguard these freedoms, and to foster an environment which promotes respect for the rights of all citizens.”

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Security

Arab League Exploring Possible Joint U.N. Observer Mission To Syria

By Eli Clifton on Feb 9, 2012 at 5:43 pm

Violence in Syria continues to rage as security forces killed more than 50 protesters in the city of Hom today. With the death toll for the past six days totaling over 400, Arab League ministers are exploring a new proposal to send a joint U.N-Arab League mission to Syria.

“There is a proposal from the secretary-general of the Arab League to form a joint mission for Syria in coordination with the United Nations, and it will be presented before the planned Arab foreign ministers’ meeting on Sunday in Cairo,” the Arab League’s deputy head, Ahmed Ben Helli, told reporters today.

The upcoming ministerial meeting in Cairo may also issue a statement on China and Russia’s veto of a U.N. Security Council Resolution last Saturday, reports Reuters. The resolution was based on an Arab peace plan that had the support of the rest of the Security Council but China and Russia’s veto brought criticism from both Western and Arab nations.

The ongoing artillery bombardment of Homs, a recently leaked report detailing the failures of an Arab League observer mission, and the Russian and Chinese veto have left the Arab League and the United Nations looking for new strategies to halt the bloodshed.

Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby announced this week that a new mission would need international backing, better equipment and more observers than the Arab League mission. Yesterday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon confirmed that Elaraby had proposed a joint mission.

Consultations will be held with the Arab League and Security Council members “before fleshing out the details,” said the U.N. chief. But Western powers offered a lukewarm response to the proposal. Agence France-Presse reports that France said there would have to be “guarantees” for the mission and Germany called it a “very serious” idea but emphasized that conditions would have to be met before such an effort could be launched.

While diplomats discuss what steps to take next, Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged the Syrian government to stop shelling residential areas of Homs. “Those responsible for such horrific attacks will have to answer for them,” HRW’s Anna Neistat in a statement earlier today.

Rights groups estimate that more than 6,000 people have died since protests began eleven months ago.

LGBT

Russia’s Anti-Gay Propaganda Bill Passes Second Reading, Lawmakers Compare Gays To Drug Users

By Igor Volsky on Feb 8, 2012 at 9:00 am

St. Petersburg, Russia’s controversial anti-gay propaganda law passed the second of three readings today in a vote of 31 to 6, as activists protested the measure in front of the parliament and were later detained for seven hours.

During the debate, United Russia deputy Vitaly Milonov accused the “liberal opposition” of seeking to destroy the country and disregarding the well-being of children. He claimed that liberalism has increased the city’s “tolerance for drug use, and, in his opinion, the same can not be allowed in respect of sexual perversion.” The measure would fine groups or individuals who promote homosexuality, pedophilia, or transgenderism to minors. The version approved today includes fines that are 10 times higher than when the bill was first brought before the city’s legislature in November. The text:

“Under the public actions aimed at promoting sodomy, lesbianism, bisexuality, transgender minors, in this article should be understood as a purposeful activity, and uncontrolled dissemination of public information, manner, able to harm the health, moral and spiritual development minors, including the form they have misconceptions about the social equivalence of traditional and nontraditional marriage. ” Under the promotion of pedophilia, the bill requires to understand “purposeful activity and uncontrolled dissemination of public information, manner, carried out in order to create a society of distorted notions of conformity to social norms of intimate relationships between adults and minors. “

The anti-gay legislation has been condemned by the international community and is in violation of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the European Convention for Human Rights, the Council of Europe Recommendations and other decrees. Lawmakers in Moscow are said to be considering similar bans.

NEWS FLASH

Assad Promises Peace As Syrian Military Shells Homs | Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reportedly told Syrian President Bashar al-Assad today that Moscow wants to see democratic reforms in Syria. Russia’s foreign ministry called for “the swiftest stabilization of the situation in Syria on the basis of the swiftest implementation of democratic reforms whose time has come.” After the meeting, Lavrov said Assad is “completely committed” to stopping the violence, yet at the same time, Syrian forces were continuing their assault on Homs. The message from Moscow, one of Syria’s few allies, came three days after Russia and China vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution backing an Arab League plan for Assad to step down from power and initiate a political transition.

Syrian President Bashar Assad, right, meets with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Damascus, Syria on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012. (AP)

NEWS FLASH

Arab League Chief: Russian And Chinese Veto Of Syrian Resolution Is ‘Unacceptable’ | Russia and China lost diplomatic credit in the Arab world following their “unacceptable” veto on Saturday of a U.N. Security Council resolution on Syria said Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby. The vetoed resolution backed an Arab initiative calling for Syrian President Bashar Al Assad to step aside but Elaraby acknowledged that the Arab League would still work with Moscow and Beijing “because we need them.” Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov will present an initiative to Assad when he visits Damascus on Tuesday but Elaraby declined to offer details of the plan. The U.N. reports that the 11 month Syrian uprising has taken more than 5,000 lives.

Security

Putin Won’t Participate In Presidential Debates, Will Send Proxies Instead

By Eli Clifton on Feb 6, 2012 at 2:15 pm

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced today that he will not participate in upcoming presidential debates. Instead, the Russian leader will send representatives to debate on his behalf. Putin, who pledged to develop democracy in Russia, is still expected to win the March 4 presidential election but Kremlin watchers are questioning how the government will handle the aftermath of one of the most intensely contested elections in recent Russian history.

The Wall Street Journal’s Alan Cullison reports that the Kremlin is falling back on anti-Americanism as a useful tool to both smear opponents as “puppets of the U.S.’s CIA and State Department” and bolster Putin’s images as a fierce nationalist. A degree of hostility to the U.S. has always been a staple of Putin’s leadership but the new campaign has gone further, branding his political opponents as American puppets.

A documentary titled “Foreigners Will Help Them,” aired on Russian television last week. The film features supposed secret tapes of opposition leaders accepting instructions from U.S. officials in Moscow and Washington.

On Saturday, Russia’s veto of a U.N. Security Council resolution aimed at ending the 11-month Syrian uprising drew harsh words from Washington — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton characterized that veto as “a travesty” during a visit to Bulgaria this weekend — but Russian obstinance at the U.N. may serve Putin domestically as evidence that he is unafraid to stand up to the U.S. and the West.

News this morning that Putin will send proxies to represent him in upcoming presidential election debates came as a surprise since he had explicitly told journalists on December 28 that he would debate his challengers. Putin, speaking to the journalists, slammed his political opponents, telling them that “the point is that the opposition doesn’t carry out practical work and it always demands the impossible, and then usually nothing is implemented.” He continued, “[Dialogue is required,] and I will decide what form it will take exactly.”

NEWS FLASH

U.S. ‘Disgusted’ As Russia And China Veto U.N. Resolution On Syria | Amid brutal violence in Syria, Russia and China vetoed a resolution before the 15-member body to support an Arab League plan to end the crisis. Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave dueling speeches in Munich, Germany. “As a tyrant in Damascus brutalizes his own people, the U.S. and Europe stand shoulder to shoulder…alongside the Arab League, in demanding an end to the bloodshed and a democratic future for Syria,” Clinton said. President Obama also threw his support behind the resolution and, going even farther, ended his statement by saying: “The suffering citizens of Syria must know: we are with you, and the Assad regime must come to an end.” But Russia and China blocked the resolution. U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice, who tweeted that she was “disgusted” by the veto, said on the Council floor: “This intransigence is even more shameful when you consider that at least one of these members” — Russia — “is still delivering weapons to Syria.”

NEWS FLASH

Tens Of Thousands Protest In Russia: ‘Down With The Cold, Down With Putin’ | Tens of thousands of Russian protesters defied sub-zero temperatures in Moscow to keep alive the blossoming protest movement against Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s bid to reassert himself as president and allegedly fraudulent elections. The third such large-scale protest in Moscow — following a December 10 outing and a massive December 24 rally (amid other smaller actions) — made light of temperatures of minus 17 degrees Centigrade (minus 1 Fahrenheit) after the authorities waged a bizarre propaganda campaign to discourage people from going out in the cold. Organizers, though, waged a sometimes light-hearted counter-campaign, and claimed 120,000 people came out to demonstrate (police put the number at 35,000). Their signs read “Down with the cold, down with Putin,” “They froze our democracy” and “We are frozen in solidarity.” Here’s an AP picture of bundled-up protesters run by the New York Times:

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