Russia

Submitted by Pyotr Iskenderov via Strategic-Culture.org,

This past year of 2016 set a new record for the export history of Gazprom, Russia’s biggest gas company. Its chairman, Alexey Miller, has claimed that by the end of the year Gazprom will have shipped a total of 180 billion cubic meters to non-CIS countries.

Gazprom had only planned to export between 166 and 170 billion cubic meters of gas in 2016 (in 2015, 158.56 billion cubic meters of gas were delivered to non-CIS countries).

Having recently won the crucial battle for Aleppo, which has changed the layout of the ongoing Syrian proxy war between the Assad regime (with the Kremlin's backing), and "rebel" forces including various Al-Qaeda elements (supported by the US-led alliance), hardly content with this crucial victory Russian president Vladimir Putin is only just getting started, and as the Daily Beast confirms reports that had previously circulated in the Russian press, dozens of highly trained "Chechen killer" Russian special military units in red berets are being transported to Syria.

For those who missed it among the deluge of propaganda, the Russian 'hack' of the election has been exposed as a huge hoax:

A Wikileaks envoy today claims he personally received Clinton campaign emails in Washington D.C. after they were leaked by 'disgusted' whisteblowers - and not hacked by Russia.

• Monte dei Paschi Rescue Cost Jumps as Deposits Fall (WSJ)
• Russia finds first black box from Black Sea crash jet (Reuters)
• Prat-Gay Fired as Argentine Finance Minister After One Year (BBG)
• Fear of Trump Triggers Deep Spending Cuts by Nation's Second Largest Union (BBG)
• Xi’s Power Play Foreshadows Change in How China Is Ruled (WSJ)
• China to launch probe for soft landing on the far side of the moon by 2017 (Global Times)
• CEO’s Winning Gamble May Keep Scrooge From Deutsche Bank Bonuses (BBG)

Submitted by Michael Jabara Carley via Strategic-Culture.org,