By John Helmer, Moscow Before a military strongman got himself elected prime minister of the south Pacific island of Fiji, he thought it a good idea to threaten his larger island neighbours, Australia and New Zealand, with the idea that Russia would arm his junta to the teeth, paying for the weapons with port rights […]

by Editor - Sunday, May 17th, 2015
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By John Helmer, Moscow Mining Maven is the London market’s bulwark against the meretricious drivel of the Financial Times, the Murdoch press, and the Guardian. And not only when it comes to investor hype, fraud, and insider dealing.

by Editor - Wednesday, May 13th, 2015
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By John Helmer, Moscow Four out of five Polish voters casting ballots in Sunday’s first-round presidential election were holding their noses. But what they want to say won’t be clear until the second round on May 24; maybe not until the parliamentary election in six months’ time. What is already clear is that the Poles […]

by Editor - Tuesday, May 12th, 2015
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By John Helmer, Moscow On display at this year’s Red Square parade on May 9 was something not seen in many years – the soldiers marching past were smiling. Only misanthropes and Russophobes claim that Russians don’t smile. Those who do claim have never been to bed with one, or to a Victory Day parade. […]

by Editor - Monday, May 11th, 2015
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By John Helmer, Moscow Last week a Vienna, Austria, court ruled that US government charges against Ukrainian oligarch Dmitry Firtash are unsubstantiated and unlawfully motivated by political scheming. Next up for the rule of evidence and of law — the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg must judge whether European Union (EU) sanctions against Russia […]

by Editor - Thursday, May 7th, 2015
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By John Helmer, Moscow The Moscow Times, a small English-language daily outlet for a string of foreign causes since 1992, has been sold by its Finnish owner, Sanoma. The new Russian owner, Demyan Kudryavtsev, told the newspaper on Tuesday he won’t be closing it down, but will be changing what it does. He told a […]

by Editor - Wednesday, May 6th, 2015
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By John Helmer, Moscow A Vienna, Austria, court has ruled that Victoria Nuland (right), the US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, attempted to pressure the President of Ukraine, Victor Yanukovich (left), into accepting Ukrainian association with the European Union (EU) by threatening Ukrainian oligarch Dmitry Firtash with arrest, extradition to the […]

by Editor - Saturday, May 2nd, 2015
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“Journalists and activists should be trained and funded to investigate this world. Currently there are brave groups working independently in various countries, but little coordination. Those investigating corruption need to be protected by a legal fund so they are not intimidated by threats of libel.” — Peter Pomeranzev, April 15, 2014, US House Foreign Affairs […]

by Editor - Thursday, April 30th, 2015
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By John Helmer, Moscow Heeeeeeeeere’s Sasha, Boris, Andrei, Olga, Zahar, Ella, Sergei, Seriosha, Pavel, Natalia! That’s the top-10 of the top-100 Russian politicians auditioning for election and power, picked this week by 26 experts; paid for by the Kremlin budget; and reporting to Vyacheslav Volodin. He’s the deputy head of the President’s administration in charge […]

by Editor - Wednesday, April 29th, 2015
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By John Helmer, Moscow What if the Ukrainian government resumes the war noone wants to pay for – not the US, the European Union, Poland, Canada, least of all Kiev? Public statements by Ukrainian and international officials identify two payment deadlines for war, and for peace. The first falls on May 31, Natalie Jaresko, the […]

by Editor - Tuesday, April 28th, 2015
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