The London Daily Telegraph reports: “The Russian security service has been given extended powers to act against people for so-called ‘thought crime’ under a new law which opponents say marks a return to Soviet-era policing.

The bill, criticized by rights groups, would allow the Federal Security Service (FSB) to issue official warnings to individuals whose actions are deemed to be creating the conditions for crime.

Rights groups say the bill would essentially put the special service above the law and harks back to Soviet times when the much-feared FSB predecessor KGB used warnings to persecute dissidents.

The bill had already sailed through the lower and upper houses of parliament and was signed into law by the Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev.

The opposition says the FSB security service is already extremely powerful and empowering it further would contravene Mr. Medvedev’s pledge to liberalize Russia…” (Thought crime is dangerous as only God knows what humans are really thinking – Genesis 6:5; I Chronicles 28:9; Psalm 94:11; Psalm 139:23; Isaiah 55:8, 9; Matthew 9:4; 12:25; 15:29; Luke 5:22; 6:8; Romans 2:15; I Corinthians 3:20; Hebrews 4:12.)

Voice of America News reports: “Russia says it is dissatisfied with the United States’ fulfillment of its obligations according to their arms-reduction treaty.

RIA-Novosti reports Russia’s Foreign Ministry said the U.S. has failed to provide assurances that some of its former nuclear missile launchers and bombers, now converted to accommodate conventional weapons, could not be retrofitted to again use nuclear arms.

Moscow also said U.S. authorities failed to stop leaks of radioactive materials and nuclear weapons-related information. In particular, it mentioned a 2006 case when police found that information from a nuclear research laboratory at Los Alamos, New Mexico, had been leaked to a criminal drug-dealing group.

The Foreign Ministry said such issues go against the terms of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, known as START…” (The non-proliferation treaty will never work. In Ezekiel 38:11 Russia breaks the peace pact set up by the Global Dictator and all hell breaks loose as World War III begins – Ezekiel 38:1, 2, 8, 16; 39:1, 2, 12, 13.)

BBC News reports: “Russia has branded EU sanctions against Iran as ‘unacceptable’, saying they undermine international efforts to rein in Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

The European Union adopted new sanctions targeting Iran’s foreign trade, banking and energy sectors.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman has condemned the ‘deeply regrettable’ sanctions and vowed to continue its uranium enrichment work.

The EU measures go beyond the fourth set of UN sanctions adopted on 9 June.

They include a ban on dealing with Iranian banks and insurance companies, as well as steps to prevent investment in Tehran’s oil and gas sector.

Russia, one of six world powers negotiating with Iran, supported the UN sanctions, but has objected to extra unilateral measures imposed by the US and EU since then.

‘This not only undermines our joint efforts to seek a political and diplomatic settlement around Iran’s nuclear programme, but also shows disdain for the carefully calibrated and co-ordinated provisions of the UN Security Council resolutions,’ the foreign ministry said in a statement.

The use of sanctions outside of the UN Security Council framework is ‘unacceptable,’ the statement said…” (Russia opposes the sanctions because Iran will align its armies with Russia in Ezekiel 38:5. Persia in this text is Persia which changed its name to Iran in 1935.)

Voice of America News reports: “A State Department report says the United States is uncertain whether Russia has fully complied with international treaties banning chemical and biological weapons.

The department released its Compliance Report – an unclassified condensed version of a much more detailed report it sent to Congress. It says a lack of information from Russia has made it unclear if Moscow has fully complied with its obligations to get rid of all biological weapons.

The State Department also says it is still not sure if Russia has declared its stockpile of chemical weapons.

Russia has not yet replied to the report, which could have some bearing on the U.S. Senate’s decision whether to ratify the new nuclear arms treaty signed earlier this year between Russia and the United States…” (Russia can’t be trusted to keep its signed treaties – Joel 2:3, 30.)