Up to 100 Russian Aviation Companies May be Banned to Fly to Europe

Up to 100 Russian aviation companies, ‘Aerofleet’ among them may be banned to fly to Europe.

Russian aviation companies were added to the list of companies who will be banned to fly from 2012 due to ecologic norms. There are 4 thousand companies in the list. New EU law will be in force from 1 January 2012. The law forces airlines to cut CO2.

The list includes German ‘Lufthansa’, Italian ‘Alitalia’, Spanish ‘Quantas’, French-Holland ‘KLM’ and Arabic ‘Emirates’, US military-air forces, military airlines of Russia and Israel as well.

According to International experts, 13% of CO2 is from aviation transport.

The Twitter fiasco; A bungled caper by Russian intelligence

Sukhumi is the capital of Abkhazia, the Russian occupied northwestern enclave of Georgia. Sukhumi has a Latin past. Like the rest of Georgia, it was once part of the Byzantine Empire.

The Latin spelling for the Russian name of Sukhumi is Cyxymu. Cyxymu is also the name of the blogger who was targeted last week in the cyber attack on Google Blog, Twitter, Live Journal and You Tube by Russian intelligence. The attack caused Twitter to crash.

Mostly written in Russian, Cyxymu is intended for other Abkhazian refugees. Criticizing Russian aggression, but pulling no punches as to Georgia, the site quickly became quite popular. However, in October 20o8, Live Journal, the blog’s host, was the target of a massive cyber attack, probably by Russian intelligence. Succumbing to the pressure, Live Journal, Russia’s largest blog platform, deleted Cyxymu’s account.

Twice canceled due to Russian cyber warfare censorship, Cyxymu now moved on to Twitter, Google Blog, and You Tube. Changing his name to Cyxymu2, he reappeared on Live Journal.

Moscow’s cyber attack was a ham-fisted attempt to censor the blogosphere. But, not only did it fail, but by taking down Twitter, a front and center platform in the West, it guaranteed publicity for Cyxymu.

Russian Orthodox Head Rejects Calls for Independent Church in Ukraine

The spiritual leader of the Russian Orthodox Church rejected calls from Ukraine's president to create a local Orthodox church body independent from Moscow, stressing that the dominant Orthodox church in Ukraine, which answers to Moscow, is the only legitimate church there.

"This church, Mr. President, already exists," Kirill said after meeting up with Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko on Monday at the Holodomor Victims Memorial in Kiev. "If it didn't exist today, Ukraine wouldn't exist either."

Though the country's main Orthodox church recognizes Kirill as their spiritual leader, some church leaders have proclaimed themselves independent of Moscow and have been gaining popularity and political support from Yushchenko.

The president is encouraging church leaders in Ukraine to shake off centuries of Russian influence and asked the world's Orthodox spiritual leader, Bartholomew I of Constantinople, last year to bless the creation of a Ukrainian church that would be independent of the powerful Moscow patriarchate.

Yushchenko's request for a national church, however, have only been met with unclear responses from Constantinople - one of which led both Moscow and Kiev to claim victory.

Though many observers believe the Ukrainian church is bound to attain independence eventually, some note that an abrupt decision could lead to a deep split between Constantinople and the Russian Orthodox Church, which claims 95 million out of the world's 250 million Orthodox and is the biggest in the world.

As a nation, Ukraine has been independent since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Kirill, who has been in Ukraine since July 27, was scheduled to conclude his visit Wednesday with an event commemorating the 450th anniversary of the miracle of the Pochaiv icon of the Madonna. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church expects Kirill to visit Ukraine again in 2010.