Satellite photos that purport to show Soviet-made S-300PT air defense systems at a US military site have surfaced online, prompting various theories about how and why they ended up there.

The speculations began after an image of what appear to be two 5P85PT launchers on semi-trailers and a 30N6 fire control system were posted online by a military enthusiast. The installations are an integral part of the S-300PT surface-to-air missile systems.

The blogger, who says he is “geolocating all sort of military stuff” in his profile description, has since deleted the post but not before it gained traction online and attracted the attention of Russian media and the Defense Blog online magazine. 

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In his original post on May 1, tamydoolittle (@border9999) did not provide any details on where the installations were deployed apart from a vague “somewhere in the USA.”

Manufactured in the Soviet Union in 1975, the first S-300 air defense complexes entered service in 1979.  In the following years, the complexes were delivered to over a dozen countries, including China, Algeria, Venezuela, Iran, Vietnam, Ukraine as well as US’ NATO allies Bulgaria and Slovakia.

The fact that the complexes are believed to still be deployed by some NATO members might hold a key to the mystery as to how they landed on American soil.

According to some reports, the US has retained at least one S-300 installation since the early 1990s, which it allegedly acquired from Belarus amidst the turmoil following the Soviet Union’s collapse. The New York Times reported back in 1994 that the Pentagon’s chief military intelligence bought “components” of the S-300 in a secretive deal in order to study the system. The complexes reportedly came without electronics and radar equipment.

The Pentagon’s interest in the Soviet-era technology has apparently not faded since. It was reported in October last year that US and Israeli military specialists made a secretive trip to Ukraine to study and test the installations there. Kiev reportedly provided Tel Aviv and Washington with technical details and some S-300s for further field tests.

While it is unclear if the “S-300” allegedly spotted in the US is a mockup or a real one, some Russian media have speculated that the US military might be conducting tests in preparation for a military operation in Venezuela, which uses the complexes for air defense.

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An executive detailing the weird and excessive ways he reads books is going viral as people poke fun at the odd methods employed by the businessman, including his habit of tracking down authors to ‘connect’ with them.

The Linkedin post by a CEO identified only as “Richard” was shared on Twitter and outlines how he consumes books. He starts by buying the audiobook and listening to it at 2x speed. “If it’s good, buy a hardcopy and highlight juicy bits,” he says, then he makes “summary notes of juicy bits in Google Docs” before trying to “connect with the author to discuss in depth.”

“How do you consume books and audio?” he asks, likely not suspecting most people’s answers would be ‘definitely not like that,’ and more like, open book and read.

Many expressed pity for the poor authors Richard sets his sights on in the hope of discussing their work “in depth.” Others pointed out how difficult it can be to connect with all the great writers who are long dead.

Some people suggested the CEO’s reading methods suggested he only read books about “management and leadership” and could easily speed through them.

Others mocked his use of the word “consume,” joking they boiled their books before eating them or consumed them with their eyes.

RT.com can reveal that the mystery CEO is Richard Banfield, of Fresh Tilled Soil, who describes himself as being a co-author of Product Leadership & Design Sprint, and who appears to love books.

He detailed further how he approaches authors under his Linkedin post. “Some respond to a tweet or email. Some you need to get through a backchannel friendship or connection. I’ve also paid authors to give me their time if I think it’s warranted.”

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Ecuador’s attorney general has informed Julian Assange’s lawyer that the WikiLeaks co-founder’s files, computer, mobile phones and other electronic devices will be seized during a search of the London embassy and sent to the US.

WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson tried unsuccessfully to retrieve Assange’s personal belongings from Ecuador’s UK embassy, where he had been holed up for almost seven years before his arrest and incarceration last month. However, the Ecuadorian government has reportedly greenlighted a US request to provide it with access to the documents and electronic devices left behind by the jailed WikiLeaks editor after he was hauled out of the embassy by the British police on April 11.

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The searches are set to be conducted by police on May 20, El Pais reported, citing a notice sent to Assange’s Ecuadorian lawyer Carlos Poveda.

Personal files, Assange’s computer, mobile phones, memory sticks, CDs and any other electronic devices uncovered during the searches will then be seized and sent to the US as a part of Ecuador’s response to the Department of Justice’s judicial request. The US is currently building a case to extradite Assange on hacking charges.

The files contain troves of sensitive information, include communication with lawyers and other legal documents – which, the lawyers argue, deprive him of the right to a proper defense. Having this data will potentially allow the US to “build and create new charges” to extradite Assange in violation of Ecuador’s own asylum policies.

READ MORE: ‘We need to save his life’: Pamela Anderson speaks of emotional visit to Assange prison

News of the looming handover came as a bolt out of the blue for Assange’s defense team, Poveda told RT Spanish, adding that it’s impossible to be sure that his things in the embassy haven’t been tampered with already.

“Since Mr Assange left the embassy, we cannot know for sure what has been happening inside these rooms,” he said. Lawyers have requested CCTV records for the period since Assange’s arrest, Poveda said.

The US has until June 12 to build a case for extradition. Last week, Assange, who has been serving a 50-week sentence in a maximum-security Guantanamo Bay-style prison for skipping bail, faced an extradition judge for the first time. The WikiLeaks co-founder said he would not surrender himself to extradition for simply “doing journalism” that has earned his site many international awards.

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron have expressed sharp differences of opinion on how to pick the next president of the EU executive, creating internal tension within the bloc ahead of elections.

Merkel backs the current system, known as the ‘Spitzenkandidaten process’, in which the European political party that can muster the most parliamentary support selects the president of the EU Commission.

Germany has the most MEPs of any EU state, giving it an edge over other bloc members when deciding who will serve as Commission president. Notably, the current system all but guarantees that the next Commission president will be Merkel ally Manfred Weber.

Macron, however, sees things differently, and would prefer that heads of states negotiate over who occupies the Commission presidency.

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“France doesn’t have as many [MEPs] as Germany in the EU parliament. And France does not have a federal model [like Germany], it’s more of a nation-state model, and they value more the European Council,” political analyst Pierre-Emmanuel Thomann told RT.

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A 6.1 magnitude earthquake has struck the Panama-Costa Rica border region. The wider area around the quake is home to more than 400,000 people.

The quake struck on Sunday afternoon, and was initially reported by the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) and the US Geological Survey (USGS). The EMSC reported the quake as happening at a depth of 12km below the earth’s surface, while the USGS put the depth at 37 km.

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A 6.1 magnitude earthquake is considered a “strong” quake, and can cause extensive damage in populated areas. Only 100 such quakes happen worldwide every year.

Eyewitnesses told the EMSC that the quake was “very strong” and shook buildings. Video footage captured near David, Panama, showed supermarket shelves toppled by the quake, and products thrown to the floor. Additional footage shot in a rural area showed wooden houses partially collapsed after the quake.

The quake’s epicenter was 48km northwest of David, Panama’s second-largest city, and 201km southeast of San Jose, the Costa Rican capital.

DETAILS TO FOLLOW

Turkey will stay on course with a “done deal” to procure the S-400 systems from Russia, a top Turkish official stated in response to a German media report that Ankara was about to scrap the purchase, fearing US sanctions.

Potential US sanctions were too big a threat for Turkey to proceed with the S-400 deal, German tabloid Bild claimed on Friday. The publication quoted a “high-ranking diplomat from Ankara” who said that economic considerations were behind the alleged Turkish decision to stop the purchase.

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Later, Fahrettin Altun, head of communications at the Turkish president’s office, took to Twitter to debunk the report.

“Dear Julian, your sources are mistaken,” Altun said in response to Bild editor Julian Roepcke, sharing a link to the article in question.

The source quoted in the Bild piece said that “there won’t be an S-400 delivery in July, as the Turkish president has announced. “With the current crisis with the lira, this would be an economic downfall for Turkey.” 

The Turkish military is set to take delivery of their first S-400s in July, with their crews starting training in Russia a month prior. In all, Turkey is expected to receive four S-400 batteries as part of the estimated $2.5-billion deal.

Ankara was subjected to enormous pressure from the US earlier this year with possible consequences revolving around the S-400 deal. Washington has already frozen the delivery of F-35 stealth jets to Ankara, saying that the planes will not be shipped unless the country foregoes the S-400s.

In addition to that, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Ankara could face penalties under the controversial Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA). Nevertheless, Turkish officials have consistently ruled out canceling the deal.

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The defiant Yellow Vests, though in dwindling numbers, have marched across France for the 26th straight weekend. In Nantes and Lyon the rallies ended up in clashes between the demonstrators and police.

A week after the lowest turnout since the movement began as a protest against a planned fuel tax hike in November, the Yellow Vests, who are now protesting President Emmanuel Macron’s broader reform agenda and supposed indifference towards the fate of the ordinary French people, once again took to the streets of the French cities.

Nantes and Lyon saw some major demonstrations on Saturday, as thousands of people joined the rallies organized by the protest movement in both cities.

In Lyon, 2,500 people hit the streets while in Nantes the police put the turnout at 2,200, according to the French media.

While the processions were largely peaceful, some clashes between the protesters and the police did erupt as some black-hooded demonstrators hurled bottles at the officers and smashed shop windows in Nantes. Police responded with tear gas and also used water cannons to disperse the crowd.

The angry demonstrators were particularly dissatisfied with the concessions the French government made under pressure from the protest movement following the so-called national debate launched by Macron.

“The ‘grand debate’ was a smokescreen. Today they’re smoking us out with tear gas,” a 43-year-old protester, who identified himself as Mickael, told Reuters. “But we won’t cave in. Yes, we’re fewer than at the start, but when the others come back, we’ll still be here and we’ll still be angry.”

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In Lyon, the atmosphere at the rallies was tense as well. At some point, the protesters started pelting the officers with bottles, stones, and firecrackers. The police retaliated with the massive use of tear gas.

The situation spiraled into clashes between the Yellow Vests and the police, which left one officer and one protester injured.

In Paris, which has seen some of the worst street violence in its modern history during the Yellow Vest protests, the situation remained largely peaceful this time.

Hundreds of people marched in the rain through the streets of the French capital starting from the Jussieu University in solidarity with the teachers, who went on strike earlier this week in protest against an education reform project.

“It’s going to be a day in support of parents, families and everyone in the education system,” Jean-Christophe Valentin, a city hall worker at the rally, told AFP.

Some Yellow Vest movement activists also used the occasion to make some political statements ahead of the forthcoming European Parliament elections. Jerome Rodrigues, a well-known figure within the movement, who lost his eye after it was hit by a rubber bullet fired by police, urged the French to use the vote as a way to show their dissatisfaction with Macron’s policies.

“I’m calling on Europeans to make an anti-Macron vote, even if he just finishes in second place, it would take him down a notch, bring him back down to earth so he can serve us instead of the rich,” he said in Lyon.

Demonstrations were also held Montpellier, where some 1,300 people took to the streets, and Bordeaux, which saw some 700 people joining the Yellow Vests march.

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The French president should step down if his party does not prevail in the upcoming European Parliament election, National Rally chief Marine Le Pen says, as both political forces are tied ahead of the vote.

The election should be viewed as a referendum which may well seal Macron’s fate, Marine Le Pen said this week as she spoke on national TV. The opposition politician also expressed hope that the president would have the “honor and dignity” to step down if faced with a defeat – just like General Charles de Gaulle, who resigned in 1946 after his Popular Republican Movement party lost the parliamentary election to the communists.

Le Pen’s strongly worded statement came hours after Macron lashed out at her right-wing National Rally party, saying he will use “all his energy” to prevent it from winning.

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“I’m a French patriot and a European. They are nationalists,” he said, adding that Le Pen is looking for “the deconstruction of Europe.”

Polls have Macron’s centrist La République En Marche party neck-and-neck with Le Pen’s right-wing National Rally. The president’s party currently has 23 percent of the vote, with Le Pen’s side just one percent behind. A recent study by the Bertelsmann Foundation has claimed that one in 10 Europeans will back right-wing and anti-establishment parties in the upcoming EU elections, pointing to growing support for Euroskeptic movements across the bloc.

Party ratings aside, Macron himself has seen his popularity plunge, with his approval rating now standing at 29 percent. When elected president in 2017, Macron garnered the support of 66 percent of the voters.

Macron’s popularity took a big hit amid weeks of protests staged by the Yellow Vests movement, which saw tens of thousands rallying in Paris and across the country. The protests initially targeted government fuel price hikes but, despite the plans being dropped by Macron, ended up with demands for broader social changes and even the resignation of the president.

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Islamabad has approached New Delhi suggesting that both arch-rivals stop using artillery in the contested Kashmir region, according to a media report. Pakistan has also vowed to remove special forces from the area.

The Pakistani army had made the peace offer using existing military-to-military channels, according to Hindustan Times. The offer included “moratorium on the artillery fire from both sides,” says a report sent to the Indian prime minister’s office and seen by the paper.

An Indian defense official said there were over 100 instances when shelling was recorded in the troubled state of Kashmir, but now the use of artillery “has considerably reduced.” Moratorium aside, Pakistan’s military ordered its Special Service Group (SSG) – an analogue of the American Green Berets – to withdraw from the Indian border.

Islamabad seems to be willing to defuse tensions around Kashmir, Indian officials believe. “These are clear on-ground signals from Pakistan for de-escalation,” one such official told the newspaper.

Tensions between India and Pakistan in the Kashmir region have been running high in late February and March. It came after a high-profile terror attack on Indian forces, followed by an encounter between the country’s air forces pushed the nuclear-armed neighbors to the brink of war.

Last week, a number of civilians and military personnel were killed as both sides exchanged heavy artillery fire, interrupting several weeks of relative calm along Kashmir’s Line of Control (LoC). Mortar shelling and small arms fire has also been taking place in the area.

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For some in the West, any death of a prominent journalist in Russia seems to be only a fortunate opportunity to speculate that he or she must have been an enemy of the Kremlin and died because of it.

The latest person to fall victim to this trend is Sergey Dorenko, who suddenly died on Thursday while out on a motorcycle ride.

“Anti-Putin journalist dies in mysterious motorbike accident days after criticizing Russian authorities over fatal plane crash,” the Daily Mail chose to headline its report on Dorenko’s death.

The usual Russiagaters were quick to chip in with anger and disbelief. Bill Browder, the internationally famous anti-Putin crusader, called Dorenko “one of Russia’s most outspoken independent journalists and critics of the Putin regime.”

“Putin will be Putin,” Bild editor Julian Ropcke declared as he retweeted the story. He added a translation of an angry rant posted by Dorenko in the wake of last weekend’s Superjet crash.

“One of Dorenko’s last posts. Deadly? Rest in peace.”

Good for Ropcke that the message he quoted didn’t carry a date stamp. Otherwise his readers might have learned that it was posted right on the day of the tragedy, when the high death toll was suspected but not yet confirmed. Dorenko had posted no less than 59 messages on his channels after that “last post.”

As for the Daily Mail’s insinuation that Putin’s hitmen assassinated “Kremlin critic” for saying bad things about the Russian government, the autopsy has since shown that Dorenko suffered a ruptured aortic aneurysm. This was reported by the very radio station that he headed. It’s a relatively rare and usually lethal condition.

For the sake of argument, let’s say the autopsy report can be falsified and the Kremlin did go after the journalist. The problem with that conspiracy theory is that Dorenko was not as critical of government policies as his colleagues at the Daily Mail and the “blame Russia” crowd want to believe.

The Mail paints a story of a brave no-nonsense reporter, who had spent years criticizing the Russian government. Dorenko was fired in 2000, after accusing the government and Vladimir Putin of lying about the causes of the Kursk nuclear submarine disaster. In 2007, he released footage of his 1998 interview with Alexander Litvinenko, who died in Britain from Polonium-210 poisoning. Days before his death he “attacked an effort to blame the crew for a disaster that many suspect is the fault of technical problems with the Sukhoi plane.”

Conveniently omitted were some of Dorenko’s other statements and ideas that didn’t fit the narrative. For instance, he was a vocal supporter of the decision to reintegrate Crimea after it broke away from Ukraine in 2014, prompting the Ukrainian press to call Dorenko a “top Russian propagandist.”

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“Those who don’t support Russia’s position on Crimea lack both heart and intelligence,” Dorenko had said on the issue. On another occasion he literally threatened to violate any American with a fire iron if challenged in his opinion that the cities of Donetsk, Lugansk and Kharkov in eastern Ukraine were “our land.” As for the tensions between Russia and Ukraine, he wrote: “We can inflict pain indefinitely until people say they have realized that there will be no Ukraine that stands against Russia. If we have to keep proving it for ten more years, we will.”

Good luck printing those opinions in the Western press!

The actual Dorenko – not the Daily Mail-Browder-Roepcke construct – was a controversial figure on the Russian media scene. In the 1990s he was famous as a reputation hitman for oligarch, media mogul and shady power broker Boris Berezovsky. One of his jobs was to conduct relentless attacks at ex-PM Evgeny Primakov on behalf of a presidential candidate by the name of Vladimir Putin.

In one report he was explaining to viewers at length that Primakov’s recent surgery at a private Swiss clinic must have cost hundreds of thousands of euros or maybe more, considering how old and frail the politician was.

Yes, there was his famous report on the Kursk disaster, in which he accused Putin of mishandling the crisis. “The authorities disrespect us all. That’s why they lie. And more importantly, they treat us like that solely because we allow them,” was how he wrapped up the report, and was indeed sacked after that.

Yet despite his often abrasive personal style and strong opinions, he remained part of the media establishment in Russia, not some fringe voice delivering online rants about “evil Putin.” He headed one of Moscow’s biggest radio stations. What could possibly make him a target?

Dorenko was many things. What he was not is a stock character for anti-Putin conspiracy theory peddlers and outlets that never let the facts interfere with a good a clickbait headline.

Alexandre Antonov, RT
@alantonov

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